Setting The Stage
by greenphantomme
Summary: Rose's start to Hogwarts turns out very different from what she or anyone else imagined. There's not much she can do but ride the tide, keep her head up, and make sure Scorpius's darn cat stays away from her toads.
1. Pro: Vignette

Authors Note (Sorry it's so long):

Alright. . . so I know I haven't updated my multi-chap story in quite some time, but I swear there was a good reason. And you're reading it right now. For some reason I got this HUGE plot bunny and started typing it up. It was a one-shot that turned into a two-shot. Then that got too long and it was a three-shot. . . ETC. It just continued to this colossal story that is almost as long as what I have up in PTR. Horrible right? There's now an prologue, epilogue, and five very large chapters. And you'll see what I mean by large if you stick around for this story, which I hope you do because I have spent a_ ridiculous_ amount of time on it.

This story is basically all written, so whilst I study and write finals I can focus on my other story and hopefully come January/February there will be an update over yonder (cause who needs schoolwork. . . right? Ugh.)

I am sorry about the huge wait for PTR and I wanted to update a chapter once before posting this story, but I honestly can't get this out of my head to focus elsewhere and just need feedback or something. This is kind of a different style than I normally write and hopefully a bit of a different read. . . I hope it's not absolute shit because after editing it so much it feels like it is.

**IMPORTANT! Read this part if you skipped the above:**

This story is rated T but there is a high probability it might chance to M later on (when they're older). There are some scenes that I'm not quite sure are appropriate. . . but argh. We'll see. I just might put a warning up above the one chapter. Harsher language _does_ pick up down the road and there are definitely some mature subjects.

Also, there is a bit of foreshadowing in this - with literature and other such things. I'm curious if anybody catches anything or has guesses. I'd love to hear them as they come up. Updates will come periodically throughout December (Can't believe it's December 1st!) and I hope you enjoy this. Happy reading!

* * *

**PROLOGUE - _VIGNETTE_**

* * *

For her ninth birthday, Rose Weasley received a toad as a gift from her younger brother.

Yes, it really was a toad.

She was incredibly surprised at first. She stared in shock at the brownish lumpy creature sitting on the dark oak table in front of her. Her parents had gotten her books, clothes, tickets to some plays – things that were practical and what she asked for (in the case of books and tickets).

A toad, however, came out of the blue; she was not at all expecting it. After the initial surprise faded, she didn't really know how to react. Toads were. . . _gross_. Rose had never really seen a toad up close before and it was honestly one of the ugliest creatures she had seen. Its eyes stared straight at her, unblinking and unmoving.

Suddenly it croaked and Rose gave a small jump. Her mum gave her a hesitant smile from where she was seated across the table. "Hugo picked this out for you all by himself."

Rose looked at her seven year old brother, Hugo, who was beaming at the toad. "Its kind is a Natterjack toad Rosie. They told me at the pet store. And it's a girl! I was going to name her Matilda like that girl in Lily's favourite book, but Dad said to let you name her."

She didn't want to disappoint Hugo who had such beaming eyes, splatters of freckles on his face, and dimples in his cheeks, but she didn't even want to touch the toad. . . or _Matilda_. It continued to stare at her with its black eyes, croaking every nine seconds or so.

"I think Matilda is a great name for her," Rose told Hugo as she twisted her fingers nervously under the kitchen table. She didn't have to pick the toad up, did she? "I love her. Thanks."

She didn't quite mean it, but from Hugo's happiness and her parents relieved looks she knew she said the right thing.

But what on Earth was she going to do with a toad! They didn't do anything, did they? All she knew was they ate flies and swam in water; she was sure she read that somewhere.

Actually, she didn't think she'd ever read anything about toads before. Maybe it was frogs that did all that? She was going to have to read up about her new pet.

"Do you want to take Matilda upstairs to your room Rose? We'll wash off the table and then have some cake – _Ron_! Stop picking off the icing! Wait for Rose to at least blow out the candles," her mum exclaimed giving her dad a death glare before she turned back to flipping through one of Rose's new birthday books.

Her dad looked guilty as he stood behind the island counter, licking his fingers clean. Rose's birthday cake was sitting in front of him; it had thick white and red icing around the top and bottom. The cake was raspberry chocolate, a family preference. The icing was everyone's favourite part though. And her dad always, without fail, tried to sneak some early.

Usually Hugo did too – and speaking of the devil, it didn't take long for Hugo to realise he was missing out. Rose saw him scramble off the chair and run beside their dad. She couldn't see much more than his frizzy red hair above the counter because he was so small. Then he stood on his tippy toes and his nose popped up over the counter as his hand snaked upwards and plunged in the cake, giggling like mad. Her dad didn't do anything; just put a finger to his lips to get Hugo to be more silent as he used the chance to steal more icing.

"Hugo Arthur Weasley! _Ronald_!" exclaimed her mum who reluctantly turned her attention away from Rose's book a second time to look up at the giggling. When she realised how far the situation had gotten in the past few minutes she leaped out of her chair to Hugo and grabbed his arms, hauling him away from the cake. His hand and face were covered in white and red and even some of the actual cake because he had plunged his hand in rather far. "I just told your father no! That doesn't mean you can eat icing too! And Ron, _I said no_! Stop teaching your son to steal cake. This isn't your birthday!"

Her dad looked sheepishly at her mum. "Hermione, you can't just put a raspberry chocolate cake on the counter and expect me and Hugo not to touch it. . . it's impossible!"

Her mum shook her head and flicked his ear with her hand as she wheeled Hugo away to the washroom to go clean up. "Rose, take your toad and all your presents upstairs!"

Right. The toad.

She turned back around to see it sitting in exactly the same spot. It didn't budge a leg in the commotion. Her dad looked at her sympathetically and tossed a tea towel. She wrapped it around Matilda and whilst holding it away from her body, she carried it up the stairs to her room.

She wasn't sure what one did with a toad. She set her on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Stay," Rose said to it, pointing her finger at it. It continued to stare at her, croaking faithfully every nine seconds. She grimaced. Her new pet was turning out to be rather creepy.

She went downstairs to go eat the cake, blowing out all nine candles with one big blow. Over half the icing was missing on the cake and there was a Hugo shaped handprint on one of the sides, but the cake still tasted delicious. Rose even had two whole slices.

When she went to bed later that night after brushing her long red hair and braiding three loose braids, after putting on her nightdress with beluga whales over it, and after having a toothbrush sword fight with Hugo (Hugo lost), the toad still hadn't moved.

It was gross, ugly, and loud. It was a weird brown colour and had the bumps or _warts_ all over it. Rose was half terrified it would be sitting on her when she opened her eyes in the morning. She didn't like it. Why would Hugo give her a toad? She fell into a fitful sleep.

It wasn't until a few days later that Rose began to appreciate Matilda. A few weeks later and she didn't know how she ever lived without Matilda. Hugo was a genius.

She squeezed him very tightly, tight enough that he squeaked. "Thank you Hugo. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! I love you! I love Matilda!"

"See! I knew you'd like her Rosie. And mum wanted me to get you a book with a man holding someone's dead face. I knew this was better."

It _was_ better. It was brilliant.

* * *

"Are you sure Rose? You can get a cat. . . or an owl instead! Then you can send us letters whenever you'd like."

They stood in Diagon Alley at their last stop outside the Magical Menagerie, trying to figure out their last purchase of the day. It had been a _very_ long day of shopping and everyone was tired of being out since morning. They were tired of the extra attention focused on them, how stores seemed to crowd up when they entered, and all the finger pointing that happened. Of course, Rose didn't really notice it as much as her parents. This was her first time at Diagon Alley and she thought it was always like that.

Hugo was running circles around his parents with his arms spread wide open and making airplane noises while Rose was jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone on two feet chanting random words as her hair bounced up and down on her back. "Bootless barnacle! Blundering Cyclops! Ugly maggot-pie! Crazy Zeus! Weedy knuckle-sandwich!"

It said on Rose's Hogwarts acceptance letter that she could bring an animal to Hogwarts: a cat, owl, or toad. And she wanted another toad.

"Rose. . . Hugo. . . we're almost done here. Can you two calm down a bit? An owl Rose, or a cat? You remember Crookshanks. . . ?" her mum asked.

"Sniffering bobble-headed toad! I want a _toad_. . ." Rose glared up at her mum. Then she continued, "bamboozling worm! Blinking computer. . . !"

"A toad is better than a rat, I'll give you that Rosie," her dad told her. He leaned forwards and picked Hugo up, when he got a bit far from them, giving him a quick twirl in the air before setting him back on the ground beside him. "I had a rat when I was your age. . . Never get a rat. . . _especially_ one that's an animagus."

". . . Slobbering animagus! What's an animagus?"

"It's when a human can turn into an animal with a spell. Transfiguration. You'll learn at Hogwarts. Let's go pick out your toad Rose and then get out of here. We should have been shopping last week before it got this busy," her mum said. "School rush."

Her mum was just about to grab her hand and pull her into the pet shop to pick out a toad, when her dad stopped them with a hand.

"Hermione, seven o'clock. In the distance."

"Seven o' - ? _Oh_. . . Ron. Don't worry about. Let's just focus on what we need to do and then leave. Come on Rose."

Rose tried to see what her parents were talking about, but there were so many people on the street that she couldn't see very far.

"How about a ferret instead Rose?" her dad asked suddenly. "A white ferret? I'll even send a letter to McGonagall and ask – I'm sure it would be no problem."

Her mum sighed, exasperated. "You can't do that."

"We can name him Draco!"

"That's a little obvious."

"Draconian then. Or Malfoy."

"I want a toad named Guacamole!" Rose whined. She didn't like whining, but she was tired and just wanted to go home. She wasn't even sure what a ferret was.

"No ferrets," her mum said firmly.

"Can I have a ferret?" asked Hugo. He had progressed from an airplane to a velociraptor and was stalking around his dad's legs with his fingers formed into claws. He then attached himself to his dad's leg and looked up at him. "Dad can I get a ferret?"

"No ferrets," her mum repeated with a warning look at her dad.

Rose was pulled into the store where she picked out her next toad. She chose a big bright green one that was just as bumpy as Matilda. This time she wasn't afraid to hold or touch the toad. She picked it right up and held it to her chest as her mum paid for him.

"Guacamole, you're going to meet Matilda at home. I know you two are going to be the bestest of friends. Only we won't be at home for very long because guess what Guacamole? We're going to go on a big adventure! I get to go to Hogwarts in a week with Al. That's my cousin you know. He doesn't like toads very much, he likes owls instead. So he won't pick you up or anything and he'll run away screaming if you go too near. So just stay near me. My other cousins James and Lily didn't mind Matilda when I brought her to go see them and they didn't run away like Al. But that was really funny. You would have laughed, if you were a person. But dad says that's a bad thing so I hope you're not a person."

"Your toad is definitely not an animagus," her mum reassured her.

They rejoined Hugo and her dad outside.

"Cool! He's so green! Can I hold him Rosie?" Hugo asked, running to them. Rose relinquished Guacamole to him. A few minutes later all the shopping bags were off the ground and Rose held onto her dad's hand while he held her new toad. They apparated back home and Rose sent a letter to Al to tell him about her new toad. She was so excited.

* * *

Platform 9 ¾ was packed full of people. After giving her parents and Hugo a huge hug she walked on the train, her trunk hitting all the steps with a bang. She was wearing her long purple raincoat, the one with large pockets in front. Matilda was in the left and Guacamole in the right. She had lost Al and James a few moments ago so she was unsure where to go.

Surprisingly Teddy, who was practically family, came out of a compartment ahead of her, silently shutting the door with a big grin on his face. His hair was bright purple and his cheeks rosy. When he turned around he gave a jump. "Rose! What are you doing?"

She frowned at him. "I'm looking for Al. Or a place to sit. Are you coming back to Hogwarts this year?"

Teddy's face and hair turned red. "No. . . I was just saying goodbye to someone. . . "

"You were snogging Victoire still?"

"Urghhh. . . nooomaybeeeee. . . gotta go Rose, have a good year!" With a burning face, he vaulted over Rose's trunk and ran back onto the Platform. Rose giggled at him and waved goodbye to his disappearing back. Then she turned to face the train corridor and was met with a packed train. It was absolutely chaotic.

She groaned. She didn't want to weave and dodge all the students that were clogging the corridor.

She saw a few students ahead of her, presumably first years like her with the way they nervously glanced in compartments as they dragged their trunk behind them. All the higher years were running from compartment to compartment and catching up with friends, yelling across the train, dodging cats –

Rose froze and felt her pockets for her two toads. They were still there thankfully, but what was with all the cats on the train? Black, brown, orange, white, calico – she didn't think there was a colour she didn't see! And some of those cats were fighting, others hissing, one just crawled up someone's leg, a student just tripped over one, and people were carrying them.

This train was a gongshow! And behind all the noise, she could hear all the hooting of owls that were in cages. There were even more animals to worry about eating her toads! It was like a zoo.

"Can you move? You've been standing in the same spot for a long time," Rose turned around and blushed as she stumbled forward to get out of the way. There was a line-up of students waiting to get on the train, waiting for her to move. She said sorry to the tall boy and moved forwards, trying to dodge cats and students.

Every compartment she passed seemed to be full. Seemed was the key word, for it was hard to judge how full the small rooms were when students were up and running around and putting trunks up high. Rose would have even have braved sitting with the older students if she had a friend or cousin with her, but all her cousins seemed to be missing! She was alone. Eventually in the last carriage in the very last compartment did she finally find an empty seat. . . kind of.

It was empty _of humans_, but full _of cats_. She opened the door and tried to shoo some of them away to have a seat. She couldn't lift her trunk so she just left it on the floor.

Then she sat in the seat and twiddled her thumbs. Her toads were croaking loudly, the presence of cats making them more nervous than usual. She didn't know what to do; she hoped Al came to find her soon, or someone else who was looking for a seat would come to join her.

The only cat to come near her after she shooed them away was a black kitten as it started winding itself around her leg while purring. She fended off all the other cats who tried to climb onto her lap because that was where her toads were and she didn't want a cat to eat one of them.

Once in a while a student would pass by and peer in. They looked at her weirdly and turned around, without saying anything or opening the door. "Great," Rose said to her toads. "I'll probably be known as the crazy cat girl for first year."

Finally after forever (it seemed like to her) someone finally walked in. It was a small girl with dark skin, black curly hair, and bright blue glasses. She looked as if she were about to speak, but then abruptly sneezed. And sneezed again. Then she rattled off five sneezes in a row and her eyes started running.

". . . bless you?" said Rose.

"I'm allergic to cats. I've gotta go!" the girl ran out of the compartment before Rose could even ask her her name. Rose sighed and put her head on her hand. This wasn't how she imagined her first day at Hogwarts; all alone and surrounded by cats.

The train started moving and she still sat all alone.

"Well Matilda and Guacamole, it looks like it's just you and me for this train ride. I wonder where Al is sitting, I might go try and find him later. He's probably made loads of friends already."

Rose stopped talking and sat back against the seat to stare out the window. Wasn't the train supposed to be packed with people looking for places to sit? Why was nobody coming to check this compartment? Why were people scared of cats? As nobody came the longer she sat there, she lost the courage to leave and find Al.

"I'm not shy," Rose told her toads. "I just don't want to wander around by myself. . ." Perhaps she was a bit shy. She didn't like when people stared at her, and if she were wandering around she was sure that everyone would look. Even with just standing on Platform 9 ¾ that's all people seemed to be doing.

Her parents always said to treat everybody with respect, but it was hard to when they just stared all the time; she just wanted to make funny faces at them.

After about half an hour someone walked in with a black cloth wrapped all the way around their head multiple times. Rose stared; she could only see the person's kind brown eyes and a hint of blue around them, every other inch of skin was covered.

"Hi," a muffled girl's voice came from somewhere in the shirt. "I was in here earlier – the one who was sneezing. Do you want to sit with me in the other carriage? I'm all alone too. I can't stay in here long or I'll start sneezing again."

True to form, she gave a sneeze and quickly backed away, beckoning at Rose. Rose didn't need another prompt; she jumped up and pulled her trunk after the girl. Unbeknownst to her, only the black kitten followed.

The girl's carriage had two older students talking by the window. They helped Rose lift her trunk up and then Rose sat down across from the unknown girl.

"My name's Aziza. First year," she said with a slight accent as she unwrapped the black cloth from around her face, which turned out to be her school robes. Her black hair was braided neatly in cornrows on her head. Aziza pulled her hands out of her shirt sleeves and extended one out to Rose.

They shook hands. "Rose, first year too. Pleasure to meet you."

"I was told that I should go to the hospital wing when we finally get to the school. The gentleman there can give me something for my allergies 'cause there are so many darn things around this train I'm allergic to." Aziza held up a roll of toilet paper. "I had to nick this from the toilets. My nose is running constantly and I can't stop sneezing."

"I don't like cats that much. I brought toads," Rose said proudly and showed Aziza Matilda and Guacamole. Even though half her family was scared of toads, and almost all the rest was apprehensive, Rose didn't hesitate to plop Matilda on Aziza's lap. Luckily Aziza was a tough sort of person and proclaimed toads the best sort of pet because she didn't sneeze once.

The two girls got to know each other for the rest of the train ride. The two taller students who were seated by the window introduced themselves a few hours in. They were Kahil and Denika, both Hufflepuff Seventh Years. Kahil asked to see one of her toads and inspected it briefly before giving it back.

"After this year I'm going to school to be herpetologist. Which is a researcher for amphibians and reptiles," the boy told them as he noted their confused looks. Rose thought that sounded like the coolest job ever.

Even though she was fine with toads, there was still lots of cat hair around the place. Aziza sneezed periodically and blew her nose just as often through the train ride. There was nothing she could do about it until reaching the school and no way to stop the perhaps hundreds of cats roaming. Prefects eventually came by and told them to get their school robes on.

Denika and Kahil left to get changed while Aziza and Rose just changed in the empty compartment. Rose's robes were extra special; her Gran had sewn two large pockets on the inside.

The sun was just setting and they sat down, fully changed, when there was life in the hallway outside.

A small blonde haired boy knocked on the compartment and opened the door. There was a brief moment of recognition; Rose saw him from when her parents pointed him out on the Platform. She didn't say anything and waited for him to speak first. Up close he had messy blonde hair and hazel eyes. There was the hint of a dimple in one of his cheeks and he looked to be about her height. He also looked tired and a bit anxious.

"Have either of you seen a black kitten anywhere? He ran away from me a few hours ago," he asked Aziza and Rose in a rather monotone voice. The two seventh years were still gone from when they left to change their robes.

"Have you checked the cat compartment yet?" Aziza asked. "There are loads of cats just hanging around there."

The boy looked surprised at that. "There's a cat compartment?" He looked between Rose and Aziza, a slight frown on his face.

"Yes. Full of cats," Aziza repeated. "It's actually quite ridiculous."

Suddenly Rose felt something jump on her lap. Her attention was turned away from the blonde haired boy to the disturbance on her lap – then she screamed.

A black cat had Guacamole's leg in its mouth and was gnawing away at it. The cat stretched out on Rose's knees, its claws digging into her leg.

She swiped the cat off her lap to get it away from her and get it off her toad, but Guacamole went flying, his leg still trapped in the cat's mouth.

"Rigel!" the blonde boy exclaimed as his cat landed on its feet and dragged the toad to the boy. "Have you been in here this whole time? Got some lunch do you?"

Rose gave an angry cry and leaped at the cat, prying open its mouth with her fingers and getting a few scratches for her efforts. She pulled out Guacamole. "Guacamole isn't lunch! How dare your cat! You better keep an eye on that abdominal beast before he eats my toads!"

She cradled Guacamole to her chest where his vocal sac was going in and out rapidly.

The boy looked with an expression of disbelief. "Your toads?"

"Yes my toads! I just said that. They're with me, aren't they?"

"_Your_ toads?"

"Yes!"

"Toads."

"Alright, what is your deal?"

"You brought toads to Hogwarts?"

Rose raised her eyebrows at him. ". . . Yes! Are you allergic or something?"

The boy jeered. "Is this a dream? Or a prank? This isn't actually happening, is it?"

Rose started to get frustrated. This was absurd. "No, this is bloody well not a dream! What is your problem?"

"Well, I just can't believe that anyone would bring toads to Hogwarts. I mean, how big of a loser would they have to be?"

Aziza stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Hey! Excuse me –"

Rose held up her hand to stop her and faced the boy, stepping closer to him as she kept talking. "I'm a loser? Says who? You? And at least I'm not a dankish maggot-pie half-wit who's a motley-minded coxomb lout!" She poked him angrily in his chest and he teetered backwards before bracing himself on the door.

The boy looked stunned at her and slowly backed away with his kitten in tow. Rose shut the door behind him.

Aziza looked at her in awe. "That was brilliant! Where did you learn to do that?"

Rose shrugged. Her toad's leg was bleeding and needed attending to. She stood up on the seat to access her trunk and pulled out her nightdress where she ripped off a piece of the bottom.

"I like reading a lot and sometimes the books have really interesting insults. I have a list in my bag. I don't know what most of them mean though."

"Well with the look on that boy's face you don't have to know the meaning! It shut him right up. Brilliant."

Rose laughed. "It was rather brilliant, wasn't it?"

"I wonder who he was. . . he can't have been a first year. Who would be that rude?"

Rose hesitated for a moment. She knew who he was. Her dad had pointed him out. "It was Scorpius Malfoy. . . "

Aziza thought for a moment. "Malfoy. . . Malfoy. . . I swear I've heard that before! Or read. . . ohhhhh. _Ohhhhhh_." Her eyes were wide open with a knowing look at Rose.

Rose left it at that. She didn't know if Scorpius Malfoy knew who she was when he insulted her, but he had another thing coming if he assumed he'd get away with it. She would _not_ take that from him just because she liked different things than him.

* * *

The Sorting Ceremony turned out different than she expected after that train ride. Rose was sorted into Gryffindor whereas her new friend Aziza was sent to Hufflepuff. Even Al didn't end up where he anticipated; he was sent to Ravenclaw. Rose's only consolation was that Scorpius was Slytherin.

It's not how she would have liked it, but there wasn't much she could do. At least Scorpius was in a different house than her.

Kahil and Denika clapped loudy for Aziza when she was sorted to their table. Rose stared wistfully at them as she sat by herself at Gryffindor. Sure she had a few cousins nearby, but they were occupied with their own friends. The other Gryffindor girls seemed to have started a friendship already that Rose missed out on because her last name was at the opposite end of the alphabet. Or it could have been the looks they were giving her toads. She wasn't exactly sure.

Aziza then turned and waved at Rose.

There was nothing that said they couldn't be friends in different houses. Suddenly she felt better and waved enthusiastically back.

As long as Malfoy and his cat stayed away from her and her toads, her seven years at Hogwarts were going to be just fine.

* * *

~xx~


	2. Act I: Parados

**ACT I - _PARADOS_**

_(Years 1 to 4)_

* * *

Rather surprisingly Rose soon found out she didn't really care for any of the girls in her year at Gryffindor. They seemed unsure as to what to think of her and acted differently around her every time they interacted. The four girls held her in a state of awe, yet at the same time they didn't seem to like her very much; they found her quirky, and weird.

In class they would pair up amongst themselves, leaving her the odd one out. They would sit together for meals away from her as they whispered and giggled behind their hands and they would all go off together and not invite her.

One time when the two girls whose beds were nearest the door got into a minor argument at midnight for the second night in a row, Rose angrily told them to 'Pipe down and go to bed' – It was a silly fight about where a missing shoe was and it was too late at night to put up with such nonsense. Immediately they stopped talking and were quiet. It was unnatural, but they didn't say anything to her or tell her to mind her own business like anybody else would have. The next day however, Rose could see them pointing at her as they whispered and laughed, not even trying to be discrete.

Nothing was said to her face, never was. Not that she really cared (maybe only a little). She would find friends elsewhere.

Rose and Aziza soon befriended a Slytherin girl who had fallen off the moving staircase and broken her arm in the first week of school. A prefect had told her to not run up a moving staircase and so she promptly tried it. She introduced herself as Pippa Wentworth and she had straight brown hair a little bit longer than her shoulders and bright blue eyes full of mischief. She very much loved getting into trouble. She had eleven detentions in her first month of school for deliberately not listening to the professors. In potions, she didn't even bother looking at the instructions; she just mixed different ingredients to see what would happen. She tried charms they weren't supposed to do for a few more years in charms class, wrote essays that were always short of the requirement, and stayed out past curfew all the time.

Pippa didn't at all care for toads but she saw their usefulness, like Rose. And she didn't run screaming.

To Rose's astonishment, Scorpius had been keeping his distance from her. She always caught him staring at her, but he never said anything to her directly – just looked away quickly. She couldn't begin to guess if he was sorry for what he said on the train, or embarrassed, or just didn't want anything to do with her.

That stalemate lasted only about a month in. Rose was headed down to the Great Hall for lunch when she saw she had a little black companion trailing her. Usually Rose's toads were let loose; they weren't always by her side and had free range of the school. All cats left them alone, surprisingly, all cats but one.

"Rigel. . . " Rose stopped in the hallway and turned around with her hands on her hips. "Leave! Stop following me everywhere."

Two of the girls from her year were passing by just at that moment. "She even talks to cats," she heard them say. Rose turned red; it wasn't her fault that the deranged cat belonged to Malfoy! It also wasn't her fault that she sometimes talked to her toads because none of the girls in Gryffindor would talk to her!

"Rigel! Go to Malfoy!"

He just sat demurely and stared up at her.

She threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, you know what! We're settling this once and for all." She stalked towards Rigel and picked him up, carrying him in the air away from her body.

She found Scorpius at his table in the Great Hall. Unfortunately Pippa wasn't there for moral support because she was seated over at the Hufflepuff table with Aziza.

"Malfoy," said Rose thrusting his kitten into his arms. "Keep your cat on a – on a leash or something. He follows me everywhere."

She then noticed that his friends were all staring up at her. She recognised Josef, who was the smart one, Nolan, the arrogant one, and then there was an older year sitting with them that Rose didn't know. Rose's neck turned red. She didn't want an audience; she should have thought out her plan a bit better.

"He's a _kitten_. It's not like I can tell him to stop," Scorpius said practically. He kept focused on his soup, not looking at Rose.

"Well figure something out! You know what I have for pets. I don't want to always worry about their safety in case your cat eats one of them."

Nolan and the older student started laughing.

"Who cares? They're just toads?" Nolan said, all pompous, as if his saying it would make Rose see reason. Rose noticed Scorpius wince, but he didn't say anything. Rose didn't really like Nolan. Just from what she'd seen and heard of him, he was not very nice.

"Yes, Nolan. They're toads. I'm surprised you're that observant – usually you can't even tell which end of your wand is up - but I didn't ask for a cankerous slime-ball's opinion. So don't give it!" she practically spit, frustrated. Yes, perhaps that was a bit too much. Nothing she could do now except wait to see what he said.

He looked completely flabbergasted. The older student started laughing and punched Nolan in the shoulder. "You just got told mate! Don't even try for a comeback now." He stood up and mock bowed at her.

"Whatever." Rose was sure the older student was making fun of her but she didn't want to insinuate anything else. She turned to Scorpius, who was covering a grin with his hand. "Just please try to keep your cat contained."

He shrugged at her. "I'm still saying he's a cat and will go where he pleases. There's not much I can do."

Rose could see the logic he was saying. She knew plain and simple that cats did what they wanted. She expected _more_ from him though, for some reason.

"If I ever find one of my toads dead. . . you better watch out!"

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "You're not that scary Weasley."

Personally she thought she could get rather scary. She had red hair, freckles, and a temper that liked to show itself once in a while. People usually stayed out of the way.

"Are you kidding me? Did you hear what came from little ginger's saucy mouth?"

Rose ignored the jibe. "You just don't want to even go there."

He stood up and faced her. They probably looked like quite a sight; two gawky first years looking fierce over at the Slytherin table. Rose's temper was flaring up. She just wanted him to say he would try to watch his cat. She also wanted his blonde hair to stop falling into his face and hiding it. It was annoying her.

"I don't like you coming over here and insulting my friends over a toad. I _will_ go there," Scorpius said angrily.

"Yeah, we've been friends since _before_ Hogwarts," said Nolan. "We're _old_ family friends." Rose shot him a disgusted look.

"Well I can insult you, Malfoy, instead then," she exclaimed, throwing her hands out and putting them on her hips. "You're a foul pigeon-toed currish bladder! How was that? You're a computer-cod surly varmint! A sanguine guts-griping swine!"

Rose was almost enjoying this too much now – letting her mouth run away like this. She never really got the chance before. The few Slytherin's listening were cracking up. And even though she was insulting Scorpius he had an incredulous grin on his face and shook his head to try to get rid of it. He was losing the battle. Rose saw the dimple in his cheek for the first time.

She felt hands enclose around her arms and then Aziza and Pippa were on either side of her.

"I've got your back," Pippa said, facing her fellow House with a serious face and bringing up her fists.

"Uh, Pippa, that's _not_ why we came over! And Rose. You've restored your toads' honour. We should go eat. Way over there, like let's even go outside," Aziza was saying.

"Well, lovely talking to you Weasley. But Aziza is right. You better leave before you embarrass yourself even further." He turned around and sat back down still fighting that pronounced dimple on his face that came out when he was smiling.

Aziza pulled Pippa and Rose away before she had a chance to reply.

"Bloody hell! But he got the last word in!"

She wasn't allowed to go back and ream him out. Then to top things off, the black kitten walked out of the Great Hall and meowed at her.

"He is going to be the death of me, I swear. Him and that demented cat," Rose told them severely.

After that incident, Scorpius no longer completely avoided her. He also didn't even attempt to reign in his cat.

* * *

The first package Rose received from home left her quite homesick. The envelope contained separate letters from her mum, dad, and little brother. She missed them all dearly. It was Hugo's birthday the past week and in his letter he wrote all about the toad he picked out from the pet shop. His name was Hopkins because he was in the habit of jumping up on the tables and counters and all around the house.

Her mum mentioned the toad and sounded quite frazzled over it as he would jump out of nowhere and scare her.

The sound of ripping broke her concentration and she looked up to see Pippa tearing up a letter into tiny pieces.

"Uh what are you doing?" asked Aziza. She had her own letter from her family back in Kenya. "Didn't the owl just bring that to you?"

"It's just junk mail. Nothing of importance." She gave a cheeky grin at the two. Rose tried peaking to see what it said but Pippa shielded it. She finished ripping the paper up and put it in her orange juice. She swirled it around with her fork to make a soupy mess.

"Pippa. . . ?"

"Alright alright!" She exclaimed. "It was a letter from my mother. She just sends so many of them there is almost no point."

"And so you completely destroy it. That makes sense."

"Yeah, you're right. I could be more creative with it actually. I'll think of something better tomorrow."

"That's not what I meant!" Rose said.

Pippa jumped off the bench. "Let's go outside to Hagrid's! He's got some weird fire breathing slugs we can go poke. They shoot fireballs!"

* * *

It was a cold winter day, winds howling around the castle and snow a couple metres deep when Albus managed to drag her to the library.

"I don't know why you don't like libraries," Al told her. "You love reading!"

Rose rolled her eyes and tried to straighten out her school uniform. She always felt so _disassembled_ next to Al. There was always something she forgot to do, like tie her boots, tuck in her shirt, or pick strands of red hair off her robes - things that he seemed to never forget. His uniform never had wrinkles and his pants always reached his shoes. Rose even had a few green stains on her white shirt from Herbology class, and dirt under her nails still! It was basically sacrilegious! She did love Al, she loved him so much. She just felt so inferior next to him.

"I don't like reading in libraries though. It's so boring! I'd rather read outside or in the Great Hall or somewhere else. Plus this library doesn't have many plays, and those are my favourite things to read."

"You're so difficult to please. And I don't see you going outside in this weather," grumbled Al. "I have nobody to go with to the library. Can you at least come today for a few hours?"

Rose sighed. "I guess. Don't any of the Ravenclaws want to go with you? Isn't your House considered the most studious?"

Albus shrugged. "The girls would rather do other things."

Rose looked curiously at him. "And the boys? There's got to be some in your dorm who like to study."

Albus didn't meet her eyes as he said, "they don't really like libraries either."

"_You're_ so difficult," Rose said, exasperated at him, causing him to smile at her. "I don't really like any of the students in my year in Gryffindor either. They think I'm really weird."

"You're the coolest person I know," Al said seriously and Rose couldn't help but hug him.

It was only one hour into their library stay when Rose got serious ants in her pants. She couldn't focus on her reading. It was too quiet. Al was too focused on his work. The Hufflepuff sitting two tables over was tapping his quill too loud. Nothing was working out.

Her eyes wandered around until they landed on Josef, the Slytherin first year who was friends with Malfoy. He was seated all by himself, curled up in one of the armchairs by the window. There was a table a short distance away with two chairs and Rose got a splendid idea.

She shut Al's book on him and packed up his stuff – ignoring his protesting and questions when he asked what she was doing. She marched over to the table in near Josef and plunked the books down. She then dragged the table closer to Josef and pulled up two chairs. She got lots of glares from other students for it made a large screeching sound across the floor

"Hey Josef. This is Al. Al, this is Josef," Rose said. Josef looked surprised that someone was talking to him but said hello all the same in a shy voice.

"Al needs a library buddy today because I need to leave and kick some cats or something. I'm _bored_. Is that okay if he sits with you?"

"Yeah. Sure," Josef said. He uncurled from the armchair and pulled it closer to the table, sitting normally. He was the smallest first year Rose had seen yet and had dark brown hair and a rather disrumpled appearance, like Rose.

With his friendly nature towards Al and her, she knew she already liked him.

She didn't stay visiting too long; she really needed to do something else. Almost the whole library breathed a sigh of relief when she left.

* * *

Because of Pippa, Aziza and Rose spent quite a bit of their time in the Slytherin Common Room. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Common rooms were always populated and full – quite noisy – but usually the Slytherins didn't hang around theirs. So they proclaimed that their new hangout, even though the Slytherin Common Room wasn't the most welcoming. A green light emanated from an underwater window and permeated all around the room. It usually made their skin look like it was diseased. Yet despite all, they managed to ignore the gloom. Slytherins occupied it once in a while and most of them could care less that two members of different houses were with them. None of the Slytherins really minded, except two. And Nolan was never in the common room anyway to raise a fuss. Scorpius was however, and that is where Rose always ran afoul of him.

Aziza, Pippa, and Rose had their homework spread out on the floor in front of the dying fireplace. They had just gotten out of class and were still wearing their school uniforms. Pippa had suggested coming here after they got kicked out of the library for talking too loud and because there were too many people in the Great Hall. Aziza and Rose heartedly agreed to it.

"So, moonstones are only useful during the full moon?" asked Aziza, thinking out loud. She was sitting cross legged in front of the couch ripping off small pieces of paper from her parchment and throwing them into the fire. She had her blue glasses pushed up on her head and two library books in front of her that weren't getting looked at.

"No, they're only useful in the daytime," Pippa said. She was busy writing away on her own parchment, choosing to not even write about when the moonstones were most useful – something Aziza and Rose thought was rather important for their essays.

"What?"

"Don't listen to her," Rose advised, flipping through one of the larger library books. "She doesn't know either. You'd assume they are at their maximum abilities during the apex of moonlight, but I haven't found a confirmation yet."

"We should go find Kahil and Denika," Aziza stated. "I bet they'd know."

"Yeah, but by the time we find them, I'll already have found the answer in this book. Or you might if you start reading the one in front of you."

"Homework stinks."

Rose and Pippa nodded in agreement. Rose wished they had something more interesting than essays like the other Slytherins in the common room. There was a group of fifth years sitting by the lake window and were observing the aquatic wildlife they saw and then writing and sketching it in their books. That was so much more desirable than essays. Other than them the common room was virtually empty of all people. Rose's two toads were seated by the fire and half asleep, Guacamole's vocal sac was going in and out slowly.

It was at that moment that Scorpius came in, his black kitten trailing him. The kitten perked its head up, looked over to the fireplace, and immediately sprinted across the floor to jump on Matilda. Loud croaking filled the common room.

Rose gave a screech, her red hair flying behind her as she pried the kitten off Matilda as Aziza pulled Guacamole to safety.

"Malfoy control your dim-witted obtuse cat!" Luckily the kitten just pounced without his claws extended; Matilda wasn't harmed.

"Rigel can do what he wants. And no one in their right mind would bring toads to Hogwarts anyway so he would be doing you a favour if he ate those things."

"You're a pinprick." It was rather annoying how many jabs Scorpius took at her and her pets. It was very repetitive. He just didn't know when to leave it alone and it.

Rigel then strutted over to Rose, who pulled Matilda higher out of reach in her arms and laid down on her homework, rolling on his back with his paws in the air. Rose glowered at the kitten. She wasn't petting him after he just terrorised her toads. Scorpius didn't seem to like the attention Rigel was giving Rose. He walked closer to them and put his hands on his hips. His black school robes were too big for him and it gave him the appearance of a sick vampire. Sick because of the green light in the common room reflecting off his pale skin.

"Wait a minute – what are you doing here?"

"Well we happen to go to school here Malfoy," Rose said sweetly, but venomously.

He rolled his eyes. "No I mean here – as in the Slytherin Common Room."

"What does it look like?" asked Aziza. Uninterested with homework and giving no more pretenses that she was working on it; she leaned back against the couch with Guacamole resting on her lap and started drawing designs on her hand with her quill. Swirls and loops soon formed from the black ink.

"Yeah, but you two aren't Slytherins!"

"Oooh, he's a smart one," Pippa said scathingly.

"You can't _be_ here!"

"Well why not?" asked Rose. "Barely anybody else is and it's not like anybody else wants to sit here." Scorpius looked at her and frowned.

"Well _I _want to sit here."

"Oh _Medusa_! Then sit." Pippa turned back to her homework and wrote another sentence.

Scorpius scowled and turned around to the armchair. He sat with a _thump _and crossed his arms angrily.

"Rigel, come here," he ordered.

The kitten didn't even seem to hear him. Rigel stood up and started purring as he winded around Rose's and Aziza's arms as they rested on the ground.

"Dumb cat," muttered Scorpius.

"Where's Josef?" asked Pippa. As the months went by, it was appearing that even 'old family friends' weren't enough to keep Scorpius's ties to Nolan all the time.

"He's still 'getting acquainted' with the library. He's being lame."

"Oh. Okay."

He stayed in his position, not moving, for ten minutes before Rose spoke out. "Since you were so insistent on sitting here, you might as well go get your homework and do it with us. Our essays are all due on the same day."

Rose caught his glance over to the fifth years. "I'm not doing homework with you."

"Well suit yourself then."

"This is a Slytherin area. . . you should leave." He said it half-heartedly, almost as if he was just doing it for a show, which Rose kind of thought was true. No one replied to him.

Rose continued to look through the library book for her answer to moonstones, shifting positions to be more comfortable on the grey carpet. The more she thought about it, the more she realised it was weird (specifically for_ her)_ to be in the Slytherin Common Room. She had only ever heard from her family about the Gryffindor one - how it was warm, comfy, and inviting. This was a definite contrast and not exactly in a bad way. There was no sunlight, but the lake window was pretty cool. When she wrote her parents about how most of their time was spent in this common room they were shocked, to say the least. The more time she spent here though, the more she realised she rather like it.

It was unique. Especially with the skulls and snakes for decoration and an over emphasis on the colour green; but then again all the other common rooms overemphasised their own House colours.

Rigel stopped winding around their arms and crawled up on Rose's lap, still purring, and curled up right next to Matilda. Rose was tense as she watched the kitten to make sure he didn't eat or attack her toad. He seemed to be fast asleep though.

The fifth years finished their assignment, got up, and left the common room.

Rose briefly glanced up at Scorpius who was still scowling vaguely in the direction of Rose and his kitten. She wondered if she asked him now if his answer would be different. . .

Rose sighed loudly for dramatic effect. "I can't find the answer in here!"

Aziza looked up in alarm. "No! Keep looking, I'm looking to write five inches on that part."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "As you're so busily looking? You're still drawing on your hand!" She couldn't see the designs from far away, but she knew Aziza was working steadily on it.

Aziza grinned cheekily. "Please Rose."

Rose shut the book loudly. "I'll look elsewhere maybe. Hey Malfoy, do you know the answer to when moonstones are most useful?"

He brought his hands to his face and rubbed it, pushing his hair straight up to sit on his head. "Yeah. Of course. I started that essay two days ago. Almost done now."

Aziza and Rose looked at each other. Rose tried to stop from smiling.

"Would you mind helping us a bit? We're stuck."

He shrugged in his chair and quickly scouted out the common room to make sure it was empty. "Well. . . maybe. . . I guess."

He oh-so-slowly got out of his chair and walked to his dormitory.

"Voila!" Pippa exclaimed as she flourished her quill in the air. "I'm finished!"

"I'm pretty sure it's too short."

"Only by four inches." She didn't even care; it was something she worked way too hard on, deliberately not finishing homework. Pippa rolled up her parchment and stuck it in her bag.

"Keep doing homework Rose, I'm going to try braiding your hair. My sister was just teaching me before we came here and now I need to practice."

"Oh, okay. And I didn't know you had a sister! Is she older or younger?"

Pippa was silent for a long time and then she moved behind Rose, out of view. "She's a lot older than me. Her name is Katie Maurice. And yeah, I guess she taught me how to braid. . ."

"Practice lots! I desperately need help cornrowing mine," Aziza said. "I can't do it as well as my mum and it just gets too knotty too quickly otherwise. I might have to cut it all off if I can't figure this out." Aziza looked unhappy with the thought.

"I wish I had a sister," Rose said. "You're lucky."

Pippa assured Aziza she would practice as she sat down and picked up Rose's long hair that was hanging down her back. She started combing it with her fingers a bit and then separated it into a few strands. Rose winced a few times because there were quite a few knots in her hair.

Scorpius came back down the stairs and took Pippa's old spot, not commenting on the hair braiding.

Together, the three of them finished their essays. Scorpius knew a lot about moonstones, but what he didn't know Rose did and luckily they had enough information to get two feet of parchment filled.

Aziza, Pippa, and Rose soon found out that if they were all hanging out in the Slytherin common room, Scorpius was bound to join sooner or later. He always complained, moaned, and nagged them about being 'outsiders in a sacred place' or saying things like 'Salazar himself is turning around in his grave,' but eventually he would tone down and help with homework or chat with them.

"You better not have given them the password!" he said severely to Pippa one time.

"And if I did?" she challenged, sticking her snub nose in the air at him.

"Well – it's. . . why – _no!_ It's secret!"

"Oh get over it and come draw constellations with us."

* * *

"I've just had the most amazing idea that we really have to do! Today!" exclaimed Pippa in the spring of their second year.

"Aren't you supposed to be in detention?" asked Aziza. Her and Rose were lazing around outside in the sun. All the snow finally melted after a cold, long winter and everything was finally turning green.

Pippa flapped her hands at them and then grabbed Aziza and Rose's hands and pulled them up. At the moment Pippa was the tallest and strongest of the lot.

"Professor Mowla fell asleep and he'll be out all afternoon, judging from past experience. So as long as I'm back by five and wake him up he'll never know I was missing!" He was the Charms Professor and getting on in his age.

Rose rolled her eyes. "If you would have just handed in that assignment on time you wouldn't even have to be in detention on Saturday! What's this brilliant idea you had that you had to make us get up for?"

"We're going to go swimming in the Black Lake!"

She was met with silence.

"The Black Lake? Did she just say that?" asked Rose to Aziza.

"She can't have said that, the ice just came off a week ago," Aziza said.

"Yeah we must have heard her wrong. The water would be freezing!" was Rose's reply.

"Not to mention, I'm sure it's against the rules," Aziza added.

Pippa sighed in exasperation. "You two! Who cares about the rules? It's not like it actually says, '_No swimming in the Black Lake _in Section 4 paragraph 12 of the Hogwarts Handbook of Official Rules for Students.'"

Aziza and Rose exchanged glances. "So you're saying that it does say that in the Hogwarts Handbook?"

"How about we just sit here and enjoy the sun," Aziza said. "Our afternoon was so relaxing."

"Nope! Come on!" Pippa dragged them both to the castle and to all their respective dorm rooms to get their bathing gear. Rose and Aziza went along with it after Pippa's enthusiasm started to rub off on them; once she got an idea in her head there was no turning back or saying no. They all excitedly got changed in the girls' lavatory before heading out to stand by the water.

"Who wants to jump in first?" asked Pippa with a small squeak in her voice. They were standing by the edge of the grassy ledge, analysing the dark water a few feet below them. The water was very turbid and they couldn't make out the depth, or see the bottom. There were also a few waves that looked a lot scarier farther away but when they came into shore, only lapped the ledge lightly.

Pippa looked nervous now; she was rubbing her hands together and fidgeting.

Rose peered over the edge. "Well, at least the water doesn't look very black up close."

"You guys! I can still see snow at that end! This is nuts," Aziza proclaimed. And true enough, there were speckles of white gracing the other side of the lake.

There was no comment. The three looked at each other uneasily.

Aziza spoke up. "Well, Pippa you dragged us out here. You should jump in first."

"You guys. . . I don't know if we should jump in anymore."

Rose turned to her. "What! Pippa, why? We're already here and all changed. We might as well just do it."

Pippa pulled her hair out of its ponytail and wrapped one of the towels around her that had been thrown onto the ground. "I just think this is a bit rash. And dangerous."

"A bit rash?" Aziza said, shocked. "And dangerous? Pippa you only ever do impulsive things that are surely to injure yourself! And it's not like the water is very deep here. Is that why you're nervous – you're not a good swimmer?"

Pippa pulled the towel closer to her chest, hugging it tight.

"Oh Pippa. . ." said Rose. "How about we all jump in together?"

"No – you guys. Can we do this next year instead? It was a bad idea. The water's freezing, and gross. It's probably deep and there's – _creatures_ in it."

Rose was about to answer when two Ravenclaw fifth year prefects came up to them. "Hey! What are you three girls doing? No swimming is allowed in the Black Lake, it's against the rules."

"Of section 4 paragraph 12," Rose muttered under her breath. None of the prefects seemed to like them and Rose was getting tired of it.

"You'll get hypothermia," added the second prefect. "The water will be freezing this time of the year around."

Well, _duh_.

The two prefects were tall (but everyone was still considered tall to them). Rose was expecting Pippa to bite back and challenge authority like she always did to people who told her what to do, but instead she stood there looking forlorn and reluctant. Rose hated seeing her like that and she felt her temper flare.

"We don't care about the rules. Why don't you mind your own business?" Rose said and turned her back on them. She was worried about Pippa and didn't need some prissy prefects telling her what to do. Pippa looked sick and was getting pale. "It's just water and we're not going to be in it long enough to get hypothermia," she called over her shoulder.

She reached out her right hand and grabbed Aziza's, her left hand was held open to Pippa. Pippa took a few deep breaths and dropped the towel she was holding. She clutched Rose's hand tightly.

Her face was steady. "Are you ready?" She stared straight ahead towards the water, focused upon the surface.

"You're getting detentions if you jump in," the prefects said with a warning tone. "Stop being stupid."

The three girls ignored the Ravenclaws.

"One," said Rose as they took a few steps forward.

"Two," said Aziza.

They all started running.

"Three!" screamed Pippa as they reached the edge and leaped, sailing through the air, wind tugging at their hair, sun in their eyes, Ravenclaws berating them at the ledge.

Gravity pulled them down.

The water _was_ absolutely freezing. They came up gasping and laughing. Water was splashed around as they attempted to catch their breath.

If Pippa stood on her tiptoes her eyes and nose were above the water. Rose and Aziza had to tread.

"That's it we're telling a professor!" one of the prefects said angrily. "You three are out of line."

"W – w – we don't c – c – care," said Pippa, still trying to catch her breath. The prefects stalked away when they realised they weren't helping the situation.

"This. Is. S – s - so. Cold," stuttered Aziza. "C - c - can. We. G - g - get. Some. Hot. Ch – ch – ch – chocolate. Now?"

Rose doggy paddled around the two. "I – I – if you k – k – keep moving it gets w - w - warmer."

"N – n – no. Th – th – this is good," Pippa said as she tip toed towards the edge to climb back up. Aziza followed her and Rose went last, enjoying the swim more than she thought, even in frigid waters.

They all got forty points docked from each of their houses and three detentions.

"Thanks," Pippa said quietly to Rose the next day. "We'll make this our tradition. Make sure I do it every year. I don't like being scared."

* * *

Rose heard a whimper coming from down the hallway, as if someone was crying. A bit apprehensive, she followed the sound - to see Nolan with his wand in Josef's neck.

". . . Near that swarmy Ravenclaw Potter again. We are Slytherin and don't consort with foul. . . "

Rose didn't hesitate; she sent a stinging hex at Nolan. "Back off. Josef can be friends with whomever he'd like."

"Weasley," he sighed as he aggressively rubbed his backside. "Getting in things you don't understand."

"No I understand well enough. Stop being a self-righteous twelve year old."

Nolan started muttering under his breath as he left, glaring at both of them.

Later that evening, Rose asked Pippa if Nolan ever terrorised her for being friends with her and Aziza.

"He tried. I've given him tentacles a few too many times for his liking so he leaves it well enough alone. _Nobody_ tells me what to do."

That was certainly correct considering she just kicked a fourth year Hufflepuff for telling her to stop throwing dungbombs from the Sixth Floor to hit innocents riding on the moving staircases.

* * *

A pea hit her face. Rose ignored it. Pippa was telling her a funny story and she didn't have time for silly antics.

Then another pea came. And another one.

Rose growled and gripped her fork as she stared straight ahead. "I will not let James annoy me. I will ignore James. He is a bawdy goat-breath harpy who is not worth my time," she said out loud.

Pippa rolled her eyes at them both. Rose heard snickering come from him and then more peas hit her face.

"James cannot bug me. He knows that if he lets me get my temper up I will take one of the forty peas he has thrown at me and shove it up his nose so far it will become attached to his dented cranium."

There was a pause in the pea throwing. Then a carrot hit her face.

"JAMES!"

* * *

After Herbology, Rose stayed behind to talk to Professor Longbottom about their latest homework assignment. She couldn't get a mark back yet for he needed her to reiterate some parts of it. She might have written it while flying on the back of a broom so there were a few places in her essay where her ink was smudging and the words weren't legible.

Rose rather liked Professor Longbottom. He'd come around their house enough over the summer holidays and winter that Rose wasn't scared to talk to him at Hogwarts. He always seemed like the kindest, most easy going person ever. Plus he chopped off a snake's head and that totally resonated bad-assery. In the second year's eyes, there was no higher honour.

It didn't take long for him to mark what she was able to read out to him and then she made the trek back to the castle, whistling to her pocket companion about her grade. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings. Then again it was just a grassy slope so she didn't know why she would have to pay close attention.

Yet somehow when she was halfway up, she tripped over something and fell flat on her face. She gasped and pulled herself up. Thankfully she didn't land on Matilda.

There was laughing coming from above her and Rose pulled herself to her feet to see who it was.

"Weasley, Weasley, Weasley. Falling at _our_ feet. Such enthusiasm is not needed; you're only a little lower class than us." It was Nolan, his little posy of older students, and Scorpius. Scorpius was hanging around at the back and looked uncertain to what he should do.

"Actually, she's a lot," said one of the older students. "But outright worship is a bit much, you're right."

"Yes, because I would actually worship snivelling dung beetles," Rose said angrily. She hated Nolan. There was something about him she just wanted to avoid, or punch. None of the other fellows he hung with were worth swot either "What you're sprouting is pretentious drivel not worth being said. Stop wasting the oxygen to help yourselves feel better."

There was a croak from her pocket and Rose put a hand on Matilda.

"Oh she has one of her vermin with her? Too bad she didn't crush the thing when she fell."

Rose looked at Scorpius. He was friendly enough with her and her friends when they were hanging out together. She actually liked him most of the time. His eyes were averted from her and he stood with his hands in his pockets, bunching up. At least he wasn't saying anything to side on Nolan's side.

"Well then. I don't need this right now," Rose said and pushed past Nolan. She'd heard the Gryffindor girls talk about him at nighttime, about how he was so attractive and funny. Rose didn't think him good looking at all. He had fair hair and pale skin. Blue eyes with no kindness in them.

She almost made it up the hill when another tripping jinx was sent her way and she found herself on the ground again.

"_Grow up_ _you piece of ill-breeded liver pus!_"

She ignored their laughs and stalked away with flaming cheeks.

* * *

In third year Aziza shot up taller than Pippa and she was devastated.

"Aziza, no! Shrink back down. I liked being the tallest," she said as she ran her hand from the top of her head up to Aziza's curly head. Even when Aziza's hair was flattened, she was still taller.

"You didn't see Rose's dad this summer," Aziza said. "He's super tall. She'll probably grow soon too." The past summer Aziza spent a week at Rose's house. Pippa had been invited but hadn't replied. She later told them that she goes abroad in the summer and is always out of contact.

"No! That's not fair. I'm already as tall as my mum and sister. They said I'm not going to grow anymore."

"Oh, height doesn't matter," Rose said as she looked up from her book. "We'll love you no matter how tall or short you are. Or short, as it will be in your case."

Pippa punched her in the shoulder. "Oh shut it! You're the shortest right now."

Rose made a face and rubbed the sore spot. "I feel like a Hobbit right now because I'm so bloody short and have such large feet compared to my size." She held up one of her shoes and it was almost double Pippa's foot size.

"This is what's been hiding under your robes all these years? Wow. I've never really looked at your feet before."

"Aren't Hobbit feet really hairy?"

Rose glowered at Aziza. "Yes. But mine aren't hairy! It was just the feet to height ratio I chose to make the connection with."

"Never heard of that book. Is it a 'normal' book or one of your boring play books?" Pippa asked. She had something against the types of books Rose preferred reading.

"My mum is trying to get me to expand my tastes. So it's a normal book. It's not as good though."

Pippa grabbed the book from her hands and threw it under the couch. "How about we go with all books suck! Let's go do something. I'm tired of sitting here."

"Ugh. Can't I just read in peace for once?"

"No. Up and at 'em Rose!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "We have Defence in half an hour though. So why don't we just sit and. . . _read_! Or something that doesn't involve moving Rose from her spot and book."

"You really don't need a bigger vocabulary from more books," Aziza pointed out as she took of her glasses to rub her eyes.

"If you say so pumpkin ruffle-nylon."

Aziza dropped her glasses in her lap and started laughing. "You're hilarious."

Pippa kept persisting and finally the three of them left to the seventh floor. They ran into Al and persuaded him to come with them to try an experiment that he told them wouldn't work a few days ago. Also accompanying them was Guacamole in Rose's right pocket.

They set Al in place and then moved a few metres back, setting Guacamole in front of him. Albus looked like he wanted to be anywhere but standing there with the girls and the toad. The only reason he hadn't run yet was because he strongly believed they would fail.

"Okay, so Guacamole when we say attack. You attack, alright?" Pippa had her nose on the ground to stare down the toad. Even though she kept her distance from him, she still had less aversion to him than Albus.

"That thing's a toad, not a dog," Al said haughtily. He had his arms crossed and his brown hair was slicked back in some semblance of control that was completely unlike his fathers. Never one to have a feather ruffled, his shirt sleeves were impeccably rolled back, not a crease in sight. Rose had been meaning to get pointers sometime.

"Shh!" she said. Pippa got up from the ground and stood beside Rose.

"Ready? One, Two, Three. . . _Attack_!" yelled Pippa, raising her arm in the air like a charge. Guacamole didn't budge. Aziza nudged him with her foot and he tipped over, his nose hitting the floor. He stayed like that.

"Holy Merlin-cats! I think I killed your toad," Aziza said horrified to Rose.

"He's okay. He does that sometimes. I think it's a defense mechanism or something." She knelt down and set her toad back upright. She pet him a few times until he croaked.

Albus grimaced at the sound. "Can I go now? I have better things to do than – "

"Attack!" whispered Rose and Guacamole took the biggest leap forward.

Albus fell backwards in fright as the toad advanced – he sent out a spell of some sort with his flailing arms before he completely fell to the ground –

The spell hit the suit of armour, instead of the intended target of the toad and it wobbled to and fro to all their horrors –

Before it collapsed with a crash on top of Rose.

And that is why Rose missed the Defense against the Dark Arts Class where they got the chance to face a Boggart.

* * *

"Mine was an octopus," said Pippa after class in the Hospital Wing when they went to visit Rose. "It was so embarrassing. I've never even seen a real one before in my life and apparently I'm scared of them! Fancy that."

"It was better than an oven! I can't believe how many people were laughing when the Boggart took that shape. I guess my dad told me the story of Hansel and Gretel too many times when I was younger." Aziza shook her head and shivered. "It would be a horrible way to die. I hate ovens!"

"And Aziza the vegetarian was born," Pippa said in a deep joking voice. Aziza looked thoughtful at her comment.

Rose laughed. "I think I know what my boggart would be. But then again, it might have changed! I guess I won't know now thanks to Al and his fear of toads. Was that his?"

"Yes!" squealed Aziza and Pippa. They both cracked up joyfully. "We couldn't stop teasing him. I think he hates us now. He flipped us off and went to the library with Josef."

"He's starting to turn into a real library bug," said Rose. "It's all he really does now." She readjusted one of the bandages on her head and then looked at her hands as they played with the white sheets. She had three cracked ribs, one sprained wrist, two broken fingers, a bruised head and bruised knees and elbows. All from one stinkin' suit of armour. Who knew they were so heavy. "What was Malfoy's?"

Aziza and Pippa looked hesitant for a moment. "His was _interesting_. And kind of sad. We couldn't really make fun of him for it because as he pointed out if we were faced with the real live thing, we would probably run away screaming."

"And!" Rose said curiously. "What was it?"

"His father," whispered Aziza.

"_No_!"

"Yeah, Nolan and his idiot friends really tore a hole into Scorpius. They called him a bunch of names and were laughing at him."

They heard footsteps echoing in the Hospital Wing and turned to see Scorpius himself walking towards them carrying a dark object in his arms. "Stop gossiping about that class," he said. "You guys are horrible."

Aziza rolled her eyes. "Oh like I didn't just hear Al telling you all about Rose's accident? Who's gossiping?"

Rose was frowning at Scorpius though. She hadn't quite forgiven him from that day after Herbology. She was still a little angry about it, especially because he didn't say anything about that day, just moved on and pretended it hadn't happened. So she said rather frostily, "why are you holding Matilda?"

Scorpius looked sheepish but couldn't help a small smile come through. "Thought it was the least I could do for someone who just had a suit of armour fall on them. Rigel was prowling around her."

He set Matilda on the hospital bed by Rose's legs and then stared around at the three of them.

"Alright. . . I'm just going to – "

But the rest of his sentence was cut short by more footsteps echoing by the door. Scorpius quickly took action and dove behind the hospital bed and sliding under. Just in the nick of time too. The reason why was revealed a few seconds later.

Two Slytherin third years, Nolan and Amelia walked into the hospital wing. Nolan paused in front of Rose's bed. "Heard about the suit of armour. I'll have to thank Albus and send him flowers."

"He likes purple tulips. I'll tell him they're coming you expatiated codswallop," Rose shot back quickly.

Amelia shook her head. "We came to see Monsieur Tremblay. Not annoy Weasley." She seemed to be favouring her left arm and tugged Nolan away from the group.

"They're in his office Malfoy. You can make your getaway now," Rose said, leaning over the bed to look down at him after Nolan and Amelia disappeared; her unhealed injuries protested.

Scorpius was silently hitting his forehead with one of his hands as he laid on his back. He was mumbling under his breath '_stupid, stupid'_ over and over. Once he saw Rose's head poke down he shut up and put his hands down. He listened carefully to double check if the coast was clear and then rolled out and quickly stood up, brushing layers of dust off of him. The particles clouded the air and Aziza started coughed.

"Shake off somewhere else!" she exclaimed. "I can't breathe!"

He moved away from them to finish dusting off. Instead of leaving immediately afterwards he quickly came back and pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. "I also brought you this. Hope you get better quickly." He scurried away from them.

"Yes!" exclaimed Pippa. "I love these things."

Pippa eagerly opened the box and dumped it on the bed, chucking the container to the side. Only Rose noticed the 'I'm sorry' written extremely small on one of the flaps in Scorpius's handwriting. Rose pocketed it.

They all started peering at the beans, guessing the flavour and eating them. It was a game they invented back on the train ride in second year.

"Grape," Aziza said as she held up a purpleish one to the light. She popped it in her mouth, chewed, and looked queasy. "Nope. It's beef. . . Weird colour. And gross."

Rose sorted through them before deciding on a red one. "This looks like a spicy cinammon strawberry jam!"

Pippa shook her head. "You're never going to get one right if you always guess complicated things."

Rose didn't change her answer though. She took three nibbles and then spit it out on the pillow, partly gagging. "Bloody hell. It's blood!"

"Sucker! You guys don't know how to pick them." Pippa eyeballed a few colours before settling one a white one. "This'll be cauliflower."

"It's not going to be cauliflower," Aziza said as she also decided on her next one to eat.

"Well you never know. . . Ha! _It is_ cauliflower. I think this is the sixth one I've ever gotten right in my life!"

"I don't know how you've gotten six! I haven't even guessed one right out of all the boxes we've eaten in the past two years. Sugar-free peanut butter!" predicted Rose before popping it in her mouth. "Nope. It's – wood. Or a tree branch or something. Bark? Hmm, not as bad as you'd think."

"Well I've never guessed one right either," commented Aziza. "This one'll be. . . carrots!"

Pippa shook her head. "It's not carrots. I'm guessing cheese."

"I don't want to eat it now! What if it is cheese? I don't fancy the stuff."

"Oh just try it and tell me if I'm right. Rose had to eat blood."

Aziza chewed one end carefully and then gaped at Pippa. "I hate you."

"Seven! Yes! Two in one day has got to be a record."

"You know what. He's a funny kid," Rose said thoughtfully as she leaned back against the headrest on the bed. Aziza and Pippa asked what she was talking about.

"Malfoy. Scorpius. He's interesting, don't you think? He always does random things that we don't expect." And acts like a complete nincompoop the other times, she added silently to herself.

"I dunno. I guess." Aziza wasn't really interested in Rose's thoughts. She showed Pippa her next one. "I think this one is. . . parchment paper?"

"Nah. It'll be salt."

"Hmm. No, it's not salt. It's milk."

"Well, two in a row was rather unbelievable." Pippa slapped Rose's leg. "Stop daydreaming and pick another colour!"

Rose's face went red. "I wasn't daydreaming!"

"Then guess again! I think this one is a turnip! Try it."

* * *

After her hospital visit, things were rather hectic while she caught up with homework, spells, and letters. One would think her family would talk amongst themselves about her health instead of all sending separate letters. Not that she didn't appreciate all the love.

One rainy Saturday, Rose finally had some peace and quiet to go read her book. She chose Hamlet by Shakespeare. She felt like a good tragedy. She loved her friends and family, but sometimes she just wanted to _read_, without interruption.

She found an umbrella laying on the floor in her dorm and headed outside to find a tree by the Black Lake.

Third year was almost done and she really should have been studying, but she couldn't help put it off when she had the options of Wilde, Shakespeare, Barrie, and Ibsen at her beck and call. She also couldn't really find motivation to study because of Pippa's lacadaisy attitude regarding finals. It was rubbing off.

She should really join Al and Josef in the library some time.

Matilda and Guacamole were both splashing around in the shallow waters of the lake. Then she had another visitor: Rigel. He was soaking wet as he trotted out of the Forbidden Forest and came to her. He looked so pitiful with his fur all flattened and damp.

"Hey Rigel. I hope you ate a big meal of rats and mice." She picked him up and cuddled him to her chest, warming him up a little. Cats weren't that bad, she decided, for cuddling a toad wasn't quite the same. Toads didn't purr. They didn't feel the greatest either against the skin, though if anyone ever implied the same to her she would defend her toads like no other. Rose was always able to ignore those not so perfect characteristics in favour of the one reason toads were invaluable to her. She stretched her legs out and stared down at her feet.

"I really do have big feet. I wonder when the rest of me is going to grow," Rose said out loud. She was so short compared to everyone else in her year. Her hands seemed to be growing too, and her hair never stopped. Rose continued reading as Rigel fell asleep in her lap.

Her brother, now a first year at Hogwarts, was the one who braved the rainy weather to come sit with her.

"Good morning Rose," he said with a cheerful grin, shaking the water from his lion's mane. They were always told that if Rose were to cut her hair, the two of them would look like twins. They both had the same hair shade of reddy-orange, the same unruly curl to their hair, their mother's nose and brown eyes, and freckles galore all over them. The only real big difference between them (besides their sex and age) were the two dimples in Hugo's cheeks that no other relative had; leading her mum to do some ancestor searching on the Granger side to see when that genetic trait last came up. The research was still ongoing.

Hugo's dimples made her think of the one that graced Scorpius's cheek. She wondered which side of the family he got that one from.

Adding to the Weasley family of Matilda and Guacamole, Hugo brought his toad Hopkins. It was of similar breed to Rose's two, but much more hyperactive. Hopkins joined Matilda and Guacamole by the water.

"Hey Hugo. Brought homework?"

"Yeah I have some Transfiguration and Potions and Astronomy. Lily might join later. Her and her friends found chalk in one of the broom cupboards and so they're playing hopscotch in the Entrance Hall right now."

"You have that much homework? They're really loading it on you for the last month," Rose exclaimed.

"Well this is the last essay for Trans. And I only have two more star charts for Astronomy. Whose cat is that?" asked Hugo. Rigel stretched and changed positions on her lap, his head hanging off her legs and his stomach exposed to the air. He was slowly drying off.

"Oh it's Scorpius Malfoy's. One of the boys in Slytherin in my year."

"I think I know him. He's told me he likes my toad." Rose looked at her brother in disbelief.

"Really! From all the trouble he gave me over my toads I'm surprised he said that to you."

Hugo grinned at her and then brought out his homework and got started on it.

Why would Scorpius say that? He seemed to make fun of her constantly because of her pets. The only other person to openly do that was Nolan. And somehow it enraged her more to have Nolan tease her than for Scorpius; at least Scorpius was nice. Rose didn't want to think about all that and so she got comfortable again and opened up Hamlet to where she left off:

_Something is rotten in the state of Denmark_.

* * *

"Hey cool!" Aziza said one morning at breakfast. The post had just arrived and Aziza received lots of baked goods from her _mama_ that she immediately shared, and a few letters. After reading her parents and grandparents letter, she opened the unknown. "Kahil and Denika sent us another letter asking how things are."

Pippa nodded vaguely, reading the daily letter from her mum with a frown on her face. It was three years without fail that she received it. Most mornings she didn't open it up at the table.

"No way! What are they up to? I wish they still went to Hogwarts," exclaimed Rose. "Hugo! Come here for a second."

Hugo was eating breakfast a short ways away and slid down the bench towards his sister to listen in. Al also focused his attention away from his plate to listen.

"_Good morning Aziza, Rose and Pippa. We were unsure who to send this letter to, but decided on the fellow Hufflepuff whom we met first on the train in your First Year. We hope everything is going well with you all and that Pippa isn't getting as many detentions_ – "

Pippa bolted upright and shoved her letter in her pocket. "MEDUSA I have one right now. Don't reply to the letter 'till I'm back!"

" – _that Rose is taking good care of Matilda and Guacamole, and that Aziza is doodling more than ever. Thing for us have been rather busy these past years. Denika and I have just finished our university degrees, hers was in Russian literature and language, and mine was in herpetology. So right now we're not sure where that will all lead or what we will do. We've rendez-vous'ed for the first time in a while and thought we should check up on our friends at Hogwarts. Take care all, Love Kahil and Denika."_

Rose was talking excitedly to Hugo. "Kahil is studying toads and snakes and all the reptiles! He was in Seventh year when we were in First and knew everything about them."

"There's such a thing?" Hugo said excitedly. "I want to do that! Can you ask him what he gets to do?"

"For sure!" Aziza said. She already had her head bent over and was scribbling a reply back to the letter.

Al was making faces and shaking his head. "Rose and Hugo, that's disgusting!"

"Toads are the coolest amphibians ever! Come on Al, there's three toads in the family. You have to get over it sometime."

Al made a face and pushed his food away from him. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm headed to the library." He got up and left the Great Hall. Hugo grinned at Rose and then slid back down the bench to his friends.

Rose heard a loud ripping noise and turned to the source.

"Did you just rip out your History of Magic notes!" exclaimed Rose to Aziza.

Aziza flashed her pearly whites. "I'm showing Kahil my doodles! And it's not like I take good notes anyway."

"Well. . . at least you draw good goblins, " Rose said. And winced. Her poor notebook.

"Here, you can add on to what I wrote and then as soon as Pippa writes down what she wants to say we'll send it back."

* * *

For Aziza's 14th birthday they went flying over the forest. She was the only one who had a birthday during the year; Rose and Pippa's were during the summer.

Aziza collected brooms from the Quidditch pitch earlier in the day since Pippa had some vengeance against the game and the pitch. During First year broom lessons she purposely crashed her broom into the Ravenclaw Quidditch stands and split the broom in half, just so she didn't have to fly. She also broke her ankle in the process. She was basically told to stay away from the pitch after that.

Rose borrowed Lily's broom and they set out after supper.

"Hey Al, cover for us?" asked Rose as they walked out of the door.

He raised his head and frowned. "You're breaking school rules again."

"Please Al."

He sighed and flapped his hand at her. "Just be back before dark. And your mother wrote to me to make sure you were brushing your hair still since you almost developed dreadlocks this summer."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"That's disgusting," he stated. "Brush your hair."

"Yeaahh. Thanks Al. See you later."

"Wait. Why do you have a stick strapped around your waist?"

She paused in the doorway and looked down. Well that was rather embarrassing.

"We were swordfighting. . . I was Peter Pan. Pippa was Captain Hook. It's one of my plays," she said when Al looked confused. "Oh come on! This has been my favourite play for years, I know I told you about it."

He shook his head and let her get on her way.

"Come find me later! I'll lend you my comb!" he called out as she just exited the doors. Rose couldn't help but smile at him. Hair combed flat wasn't really her style!

* * *

You're fouling up our common room _again_?" Scorpius drawled as he entered and saw the three girls seated on the floor near the end of fourth year. Even though he didn't say any names, they all knew he was saying it in reference to Rose.

"Have you not grown tired of that same sentence yet?" Rose asked. Pippa was French braiding Rose's hair in a zigzag pattern so her head was tilted way to the side. Rose could see Scorpius make his way towards them and flop in his usual complaining chair, stretching his long legs in front of him. Of all the people to start growing! Aziza was still getting taller; Pippa more or less stopped growing in first year, but she was still taller than Rose. She only grew half an inch over the summer! She was so oddly proportioned. She tucked her legs underneath her and her hands went to the sides. All she was was knobby knees and elbows with too large feet and hands.

Scorpius sighed loudly as he crossed and uncrossed his legs. He pulled something that looked like a pocket watch from his pocket, briefly glanced at it, scowled, and put it back inside his robes.

He was infuriating as he just sat there and made obnoxious noises. Rose stopped thinking about her insecurities and focused on him.

At least twice a week he mentioned how Rose was unwelcome in the common room, and then he had the nerve to sit with them and bug them! You'd think he'd grow tired of the routine after four years of it.

"The name 'common room' implies a place for people share. I am a person so I don't see the problem."

"That's debatable," he muttered, just loud enough for them to hear. He chose to ignore her glare. "This is Slytherin's territory. . . you and Az_zy_ aren't Slytherins!"

"Ha! Get over it Malfoy. And you just squeaked," Pippa said. Scorpius's face turned red and he cleared his throat. Pippa turned Rose's head the other way to braid the zig.

"I suppose you brought your nasty amphibians with you for Rigel to eat?" he lowered the tone of his voice to avoid squeaking again. She recognised this mood of Scorpius's. It was when he hung out with Nolan that he usually was unpleasant towards them, at the start anyway. Eventually he would cool down. That didn't mean that Rose wouldn't take offense.

"I'll have you know that all the cats in Hogwarts leave the two toads alone, which you know is quite a few of those devilry beasts. All of them except your onion-eyed puttock cat Rigel!" It came out as a hiss from Rose.

Rigel, as if he knew conversation hovered around him, jumped into Rose's lap and started purring. Rose sighed. She both liked and hated the beast. He was a perfectly acceptable pet when he didn't carry some sort of animosity against her toads. His black head looked up at her and he nudged her arm with his face. She didn't have the heart to kick him off of her.

"Matilda and Guacamole aren't here," Aziza said. "Hugo has them for the day." She had a sketchbook in front of her and was doodling random shapes and figures on it.

Scorpius snickered, like he usually did when the name 'Guacamole' was mentioned. He uttered the empty threat numerous times of taking Guacamole to the kitchen to actually be made into guacamole. He then crossed his arms and stared at the girls. Like usual, the common room was empty of all people.

"Do you not have anywhere better to be?" asked Rose. "You're getting creepy."

He scowled and looked at the wall. "Josef is in the library again. . . I'm bored." Josef and Al had become almost inseparable since first year. Rose half felt bad for introducing them for Scorpius didn't have many other _good_ friends and was usually stuck with Nolan.

Pippa shifted Rose's head back the other way for the zag.

"Well do you want to learn how to braid Rose's hair then?" asked Pippa. Aziza started laughing at Rose's shocked expression.

"Pippa!" yelped Rose. "No!"

"Well, it's better than him just staring at you Rose! And I'm almost done the hard part on your head. I'll put a ponytail in so it's not ruined and he can try the rest."

Scorpius was shaking his head throughout the conversation. "I'm not a girl!"

"So? Doesn't mean you can't try it. You have hair on your head too in case you didn't realise. Besides nobody is going to come in the common room anyway, nobody ever does except you."

He wrinkled his nose, but stopped shaking his head so aggressively. "I'll pass. . . "

But he looked kind of curious. Rose goggled at him. "You're not touching my hair Malfoy. Get that look off your face."

"Come on Rose, give the fella a chance," Aziza said. "It's not like he's going to cut it off with the scissors he has hidden in his pocket."

"Not funny Azzy."

Scorpius slowly sat up in the armchair. Then he inched forwards, focused on Rose. His fingers were resting under his chin and they were tapping rapidly.

He finally got up and started walking over.

"No! You sit back down Malfoy. Go! Shoo! Vamoose! I'm warning you. . ." Rose said, flicking her hands at him to ward him off. Scorpius smile got bigger and his dimple more pronounced the closer he got to Rose.

"You've given me so many warnings these past years that they've lost their meaning. What are you going to do – wave your arms at me? You're _very_ scary Weasley."

Rose tried to stand up but Pippa yanked her hair back down. "Ow!" Rose rubbed her head with her hands.

"Well don't move! I'll yank your hair again if you do."

Pippa proceeded to show Scorpius the finer points of braiding. First she demonstrated: "Three strands Malfoy. Now it's very simple, you might even be able to figure it out. Outside in, see?"

Rose had hair over halfway down her back and she could feel the braid travelling down with Pippa's deft fingers. Scorpius watched with only a few interruptions.

Now that he was out of her eyesight Rose was wary, sitting with her back ramrod straight. Before, she had been leaning lazily in Pippa's lap as the braiding was being done, but now was leaned forward. She couldn't see what he was doing.

Pippa unravelled her braid. "Your turn." She stood up and let Scorpius sit where she had previously occupied. Rose could see Scorpius's knees poking out on either side of her body. She held very _very_ still now. All her nerves seemed to be standing on end inside her.

Scorpius picked up her heavy hair, his long fingers touching her neck briefly. His fingers were cold. As soon as she noticed that, Rose started blushing - from her face to her neck. Her whole head was going to burn off now! This was such a stupid idea.

He copied Pippa's example and started braiding from the base of her skull. Only a few times did she have to remind him of what to do.

Scorpius steadily made his way down, keeping his slow pace.

"Look at that! You've just done your first braid!" Pippa said when he finished. "Now, take it apart and do it again. This time tighter."

"What! What's wrong with this one?" exclaimed Scorpius.

"It's too loose. Pull tighter."

"But I don't want to – _hurt her_."

Aziza looked up from her sketchpad. "Awh, they both are blushing," she said with a grin.

Pippa yanked Rose's hair again.

"_Ow_!"

"See? She's tough, you'll be fine. You won't be pulling nearly as hard and you can see she didn't have a heart attack there. Aziza I can go get that book for you now."

"Oooh, yay!" She set down her sketchbook and stood up.

"Wait – no! Where are you two going?" Rose asked. Her brown eyes were opened wide, pleading, at their departing forms. They couldn't leave her alone with Scorpius! Not when he was braiding her hair!

"Oh _Medusa_. Calm down. We'll be back in five. Scorpius keep practising."

They left the room and everything was silent. Rose could feel Scorpius pick up her hair to braid again.

Rigel finally crawled off her lap, still purring, and wrapped himself around Scorpius's leg.

"Oh now he comes to me," muttered Scorpius. "You have really soft hair."

"Err thanks. That's what Pippa says too."

"And it's really long. Why do you like it so long?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know. I've just never cut it. I probably will eventually." Rose laughed softly. "Pippa says she'll de-friend me if I do. She likes practising braids on it because of its length."

Scorpius chuckled. "It looks nice when it's all long-ish. Don't cut it."

Rose raised her eyebrows, even though Scorpius couldn't see. He liked something about her? She really wanted to fan her face because it was burning more than ever. She hoped he didn't notice it. That would be embarrassing. "I – we'll see. I guess."

"I'm not pulling too hard, am I?" he asked her.

"Can barely feel it actually."

"Good."

He was about a quarter of the way down her back and he couldn't finish quickly enough for her. She could feel his fingers gently touch her rigid back every now and then. Rose's back was getting sore from its unrelenting position.

"Can I start calling you Scorpius?" Rose asked suddenly. "It feels silly calling you 'Malfoy' all the time since we're kind of friends now."

There was a pause in the hair braiding. His fingers were resting on her back. "As long as I can call you Rose."

She grinned happily. "Absolutely!" The braiding commenced again.

"Can I ask you a weird question now without you freaking out at me or anything? I don't mean any offense by it either."

"Okay," Rose said cautiously.

"Why do you like toads so much? Out of owls and cats, why'd you pick them to bring?"

Rose was pondering if she should actually spill her secret when Aziza and Pippa came back into the room.

"Hey, nice braid! You're a natural!" Aziza said as she came over to check it out.

Pippa was more critical. "Not bad, you can see where you loosened the strands though. You've more or less got the hang of it though, I think."

"Err, yeah. Well I'm leaving now – I'll go bug Josef and Al or go walk in the forest. We're never speaking of this ag_ain_."

He squeaked on the last word and quickly scampered out of there.

Aziza and Pippa burst out laughing.

"You guys are horrible!" Rose said. She pulled her braid over her shoulder to inspect Scorpius's handiwork. It was actually fairly well done. She ran her hands over it a few times. She couldn't believe he actually braided her hair.

"Oh, you still love us." Aziza grinned at her. Rose punched them both in the shoulder. Prats.

* * *

"Hey! Little spitfire cousin of mine," James shouted at her from one floor above her. She saw his head poke out above the banister and then three of his friends looked over as well.

"James I'm busy!"

Aziza and Pippa stopped walking when Rose shouted and they turned around to look up at him too. The ice just melted off the lake and they were geared up in swim suits and had towels wrapped around them.

"Yeah, yeah. Just hold on a second."

Him and his friends raced down the downstairs to them. "You're jumping in the Black Lake right now? Is that why you're in swim suits?"

Rose was shocked. Of all people to confront her – prefects, professors, older students, younger students, ghosts, cats – she did not expect it to be James. At all.

"Listen James. You're not going to stop us. We've been doing this since second year and we don't care about the deten –"

James cut her off. "Hold your horses! We want to come with you too."

Rose's mouth dropped. She noticed similar expressions of surprise on Aziza and Pippa.

The latter told James, "did you realise that the water is going to be bloody cold?" She looked at him contemptuously as if testing his audaciousness.

James wiggled his eyebrows and ran a hand through his messy auburn hair (horribly messy like his dad and opposite his brothers), but no freckles. He and all his friends were taller than the girls, but Pippa didn't back down. "Challenge accepted. Cold water doesn't scare us. We graduate next year, might as well do a few fun things before we kick the coop."

"You might get detention," she said.

James laughed. "Are you kidding? I already have enough detentions stacked up to last for a few years. What's one more?"

"Oh do you? I bet I have more," Pippa said.

Rose sighed, not wanting to stay around to hear the argument. "You can argue on the way to the water. It's peak sun right now, let's head out."

Pippa didn't move from in front of James. He looked at Rose and put his hands together, pleading.

"Pippa, come on. They can join," Rose said, tugging at Pippa's arm. "It'll be fun to see James squeal like a girl when he jumps in."

With Rose tugging at her arm, Pippa turned around and didn't say anything else to James. "I guess," she said reluctantly. They exited the doors and started walking to their jumping spot. "But this is _our_ thing. I don't want the whole bloody school swimming too."

* * *

Final exams were upon them and the whole school seemed to be stuck in a quiet and calm state. Everyone was frantically cracking the books open and cramming like mad.

"I don't really see the point of exams," Pippa said. She had a closed book in front of her

"We're studying. No talking!" exclaimed Aziza, for perhaps the sixth time.

"The professors spend the whole year watching and quizzing us. Shouldn't they know our abilities? It should be a pass or fail. All the stress that comes with tests seems so unnecessary. And most of what you guys are cramming for is going to be forgotten in a week."

"Pippa. Shut it!"

"See! That's the stress coming through. I mean what do exams even tell people? That you can retain large amounts of useless information for a short period of time? Who even cares about the renegade unicorns of 1334."

"It was 1534."

"Whatever. . . It's just renegade unicorns. Why does that exact year need to be known? For what purpose will it benefit us? . . . You guys carry on studying and wasting the beautiful day outside. You will _never again_ experience this exact day ever again. Do you really want to spend it with your nose stuck in a boring book? Wouldn't you want to look back in the future and think 'man that was a worthwhile, stress-free day spent with my amazing friends. I'm glad I didn't study and worry myself sick!' This is a pointless exam, it will be forgotten in ten years' time and nobody will ever hold your marks against you."

Rose finally had enough and picked up her ink bottle and lobbed it at Pippa's head. She ducked at the last moment and it splattered on the ground, sending black ink everywhere.

"There's the stress acting up again!"

Rose picked her wand up and held it in front of her. "What was the Bat-Bogey hex again Azzy?" she asked.

"Fine! I'll leave." Pippa raised her hands in defeat. "I have such goody-two shoe friends. _Medusa_. I'll go hex some library dwellers or something. Good riddance."

"That girl is going to kill me from the months of May to June," said Rose as she stabbed her quill angrily into the parchment. Every year without fail, Pippa couldn't accept that her friends had exams to study for. And she tried hard to get them to stop studying. "And so are these exams."

"Summer's almost here, then we can relax."

She couldn't wait.

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_Literature referenced, roman numerals are the (act, scene, line):_

The Hobbit (1937) - J. R. R. Tolkein

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (I. V .VC) (1603) - William Shakespeare

Peter Pan (1902) - J. M Barrie


	3. Act II: Chiaroscuro

A/N: I was going to update this tomorrow, but I'm not leaving my sleeping bag for the next ten hours and therefore have ample time tonight. It's -50 degrees outside here with wind chill. SO COLD. I'm venting here instead of Facebook because that's where everyone else is complaining haha anyywhooo, enjoy this rather large chapter

* * *

ACT II - _CHIAROSCURO_

_(Fifth Year)_

* * *

The summer before fifth year Rose _finally_ grew. She could now reach the drinking glasses on the upper shelves in the kitchen at home (she was on tiptoes . . . but it was an improvement!). Right then she knew it was going to be the best year ever. She was surely taller than Pippa by now and couldn't wait to lord it over her.

Once again Pippa couldn't spend time with Aziza and Rose during the summer. Even though they sent letters _imploring_ her to come, there was nothing they could do when she didn't respond.

With such a firm denial once again, they began to realise they knew almost nothing about Pippa's life. She mentioned a sister once, and a mother. But they didn't even know if she had any other siblings or a father. Did she live at home? Was she allergic to Floo or hated apparating? Where did she go on vacation? Why didn't she send letters from the countries she visited?

Even with those thoughts, they decided to do a fun summer project.

_The Importance of Being Earnest_ by Oscar Wilde was the newest favourite play of Rose. She read it once in First or Second year and decided to reread it for the beginning of summer before fifth year. She understood way more of the context this time reading it and could appreciate the humour and satire. She thought so much about it in the first month of summer, acted out so many of the lines to her toads and to Hugo, that she decided she wanted to see a live performance. However, it wasn't being shown anywhere near her in the theatre.

Therefore, Aziza and Rose decided to put on a show themselves. They wrote furiously back and forth for a few weeks, discussing how it would work.

Rose would do the casting (the Potters and her brother would do just nicely); she would write a script for them to read from, and direct the play. Aziza was in charge of costumes, set design, and invitations for everyone to come. Rose's mum took them to a thrift store and they bought the different outfits for everyone. The costumes weren't quite Victorian, but they were as close as they could find. Some very old green bridesmaid dresses would suffice for the ladies.

Josef had come to the Potters house for a few weeks while his folks were away on a honeymoon. Rose took advantage of that to cast Josef and Al for the lead characters, Jack and Algernon respectively. Aziza was cast as Gwendolen, Lily was Cecily, Rose was going to play the minor characters, the Canon Chasuble, Lane, and the Butler. They managed to get James into a dress to be Lady Bracknell and Hugo agreed to play the nursemaid, Miss Prism, since he only had to wear a black sheet with a head hole cut out.

It turned out to be far more work than either of them anticipated, getting everyone together and trying to practice. As it was, they only managed a few before the final performance and they weren't the smoothest running.

Their audience was their whole family; their cousins: Victoire with her boyfriend Teddy, the twins, Dominique and Louis, and Fred and Roxanne, and Molly and Lucy (all the older cousins who were already done Hogwarts); their aunts and uncles: Charlie, Bill, Fleur, George, Angelina, Ginny, Harry; her parents: Ron and Hermione; and her grandparents from both sides of her family. The audience was dominated by Weasleys but Aziza's parents and grandparents also came for the big performance.

Even with a script and having practiced a few times beforehand, they didn't quite start out 'by the book.'

Lily and James insisted on carrying swords on a belt around their dresses. They made them during the first few acts even though they weren't at all part of the play. They hadn't even practiced with them for the dress rehearsal! Halfway through the second act, they started saying lines with a pirate lilt instead of the elegant Victorian prose.

Then they started sword fighting backstage between scenes and it carried over onstage as well. None of the rest of them really knew what to do as they acted out their lines with a sword in their face, or poking in their back.

Hugo, even though he promised he wouldn't, had toads and salamanders falling out from under his sheet and out of pockets. He tried to take his role seriously, but he turned out to be the creepiest nursemaid in existence.

Al and Josef were wonderfully in character and actually managed to memorise a few of their lines; Rose was so worried about everyone following the script and entering the stage on time she missed a few of her own entrances; Aziza got stage fright and nobody could hear her say anything.

For Rose's first play, it turned out way different than she imagined.

The play took an unexpected turn at the start of Act IV when Lily and James started killing everyone with their swords. The actors and actresses couldn't do anything but 'die' and wonder what the heck what was happening. Rose was having panic attacks as she bled to death on the ground.

The ludicrous comedy soon turned out to be a tragedy. In the grand faceoff between the only two characters left, Cecily and the Lady Bracknell, they both were mortally wounded in the dramatic swordfight and perished.

Even though it didn't turn out like it was supposed to, they received a standing ovation. Rose had never felt so stressed and happy.

Her mum kissed her and Hugo on the forehead afterwards and produced some flowers with her wand. "You two were wonderful! I have such brilliant children."

Rose accepted the praise from her family and as soon as everyone left, she went inside, sat on the couch, and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

It was early in fifth year, when Scorpius finally figured out the truth of why Rose owned toads.

It was one of the mornings where Rose got up earlier than normal and let her toads continue to sleep on her bed. She usually met up with Aziza and Pippa in the Great Hall for breakfast, but they certainly wouldn't be up yet. Instead of waiting down there for hours, she raided a broom closet for chalk and went to an empty classroom to draw on the board, or write, actually. She sucked at drawing.

The room was empty and her footsteps echoed as she made her way down the stone stairs, past all the desks and chairs, to the bottom. It was a large room and Rose felt the quiet permeate around her. Eventually she got comfortable and started writing.

She wrote out her signature numerous times, flourishing the R and the W in her name and changing the style each time she wrote it. She wrote with her opposite hand for fun, wrote in bubble letters, thin letters, drew stick cats, blue whales, and mosquitoes. She erased the board quite a few times in the hour she was there for it filled up fast with her doodles.

Eventually she progressed to writing lines of her plays upside down. And then her name upside down. She realised the W looked like an M. . . and then she wrote once, in very very tiny letters _Rose Malfoy_ before she aggressively scribbled it out and then whited out the whole board with the chalk to cover her foolishness and fancies. After erasing, she started flipping through her books for some of her favourite quotes.

_The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility_.

_You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth. _

___A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm_.

"But not with James or Lily on board," thought Rose. "They'll just kill all!" She drew stick figures sword fighting beside that quote.

She was just starting to write one of the Shakespearen quotes when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something black moving on the ground.

Time slowed down around her.

Her hand let go of the chalk and it dropped slowly to the ground, almost as if it were moving frame by frame in a stop motion production. As soon as it hit the ground, it cracked into hundreds of pieces; they skidded off the floor in high definition to Rose, she could see each and every piece as they spun, twisted, and flipped away from the impact.

Her breath escaped her as she plunged her hands in her pockets to grab Matilda and Guacamole – but they weren't with her – they were in her dorm. She gave a small cry.

The spider was _ginormous_. As big as her hand, as least, and it's hundreds of beady eyes stared straight at her. It crawled forward closer, the black hairs on its legs so defined, its ligaments bending so carefully in its advance.

She fell backwards onto the floor and managed to push herself away, her eyes stuck on the spider. She couldn't think of what to do; she had no defenses against such a beast.

Her legs weren't working when she tried to stand back up and she could do no more than crawl. The spider got closer and closer.

Her back hit one of the desks behind her just as the spider was only a few feet away. She was crying now; sobbing because she was so powerless and so afraid. Somehow she pulled herself up and found herself curled up on the desk, unable to move anywhere else.

She was completely blind to her surroundings. She didn't see Scorpius peer into the classroom when he heard crying. She didn't see him come racing in to her hunched and quivering figure; he was standing right before her and all she saw was the spider steadily getting closer to her.

He noticed where her gaze was centered and stepped on the spider, squashing it flat to the ground with his foot.

Rose was still in hysterics and wasn't moving, so Scorpius picked her up, one hand under her knees and the other around her back. She barely noticed the contact she was too lost in her fear. He carried her to the very back of the classroom, setting her on the desktop to face him. She tumbled forward and had her head in the crook of Scorpius's neck and holding onto the collar of his shirt as she cried.

Something warm climbed into her lap and Rigel was there, kneading his claws into Rose's legs and the pain helped her focus. She gradually calmed down and felt Scorpius patting her back awkwardly.

She suddenly pulled away from him and rubbed her eyes. Rigel was lifted off her lap so her leg wouldn't get any more shredded.

She was so humiliated.

"Are you okay?" asked Scorpius. He sat on the back of a chair, looking intently at Rose with his hands balled up on his knees.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," whispered Rose. "Usually I don't panic as much. I was just unprepared."

"You were pretty out of it," he said. " – it _was _the spider that was scaring you?"

Rose nodded and tried to go for some humour to lighten the mood. "That thing was huge. I'm surprised you managed to stomp on it. I thought it would fight back or something."

Scorpius slowly nodded his head, wondering if there was another spider that he missed. The one he stepped on was only as big as his thumbnail. He didn't want her to get scared again so he neglected to mention it. "He did fight a noble fight, but I managed to vanquish him in the end."

Rose gave a teary laugh and rubbed her eyes again, trying to get rid of all the evidence of her breakdown. She was sure her eyes would be red for most of the day.

"If this happens with all spiders you see, how have you managed to keep it a secret from the school because this is the first I've heard of it? You'd think there'd be some rumour, or more people would – _ooooooh._ Do toads eat spiders?" he asked, his dimple becoming pronounced and his eyes lighting up.

Rose smiled, seeing his dimple made her happy for some reason. "Toads _love _spiders. I thought they were doing a good job of keeping the spider population down. I foolishly left Guacamole and Matilda in my dorm this morning."

"Luckily I was here for the rescue!" he said before he became bashful. "I'm sorry I've teased you, in the past. It makes sense and it was stupid of me not to think you'd have a rational explanation."

Rose shrugged. "Toads are pretty great pets regardless. And please don't tell anyone!"

She got up off the desk and stepped away from Scorpius. Together they walked back down to the chalkboard where her bookbag was, Scorpius making sure the area was clear of spiders.

While Rose's red eyes gradually faded, they both stayed, doodling and drawing on the board. "Please don't go spilling it to Nolan. Or Josef. Or anybody."

Scorpius promised he wouldn't. They left for the Great Hall together to get breakfast. He let her go in first and then came in a few minutes later so it wouldn't look like they were just together.

* * *

"Doesn't it bug you guys. . . " Rose said.

"What?"

"That Scorpius is only friends with us in secret. I mean, would it really be that big of a deal if the school knew that he sometimes hung out with us?"

"Maybe for him," said Aziza. "I feel like he's lonely a lot of the time and doesn't really know what to do or how to act. . . It must be somewhat of a burden having his last name and the expectations that come with it while at the same time trying make his own name for himself. . . "

"Well, you - " started Pippa but Aziza shushed her and kept explaining to Rose.

"I mean we don't exactly hang well with the popular group here, nor are we popular at all and I think he associates popularity with being liked in the school. Because more people would look to him as a_ person_ and he could shape their perceptions more. . . He'll figure out where he stands eventually. And even though he nags and complains, I know he does like hanging out and doing homework with us. Also, maybe his father is pressuring him somewhat."

"Stop being so sensible," moaned Pippa. "He's a snake. Through and through. Only occasionally entertaining."

"Just like you?" teased Rose. She would have to really think on Aziza's response.

"Oh shut up."

* * *

"Guess what?" Aziza said in Defence Against the Dark Arts. They were being lectured on the Unforgivable Curses, which was a very interesting topic. . . if the Professor hadn't already talked about it the year previously. They were sitting at the back of the classroom. Technically it was only the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors that shared the class, but Pippa had a spare (or was skipping - who knew) and so sat in with her friends.

Like usual Aziza's page was filled with doodles all around the margins with only a few relevant notes, Rose had _The Comedy of Errors _open under her desk as she flipped through the pages, and Pippa had her feet on the desk and was rocking back and forth on the chair, watching Professor Alicant's glares at her every time the chair squeaked and grinning a vindictive smile.

"Just a sec, just a sec," muttered Rose. She was enraptured by the play and needed to finish the scene.

_Creak creak _went the chair. A glare came their way

When Rose finally finished she looked up at Aziza expectantly.

She turned away from her doodles and tapped her quill on the table, not looking at either of them. "I'm a vegetarian now. Since summer"

Pippa frowned. She started putting her brown hair up in a bun on the top of her head. "I just saw you eat bacon yesterday!" she said accusingly. Rose thought back the past few weeks, but she couldn't recall Aziza's eating habits.

"No. I passed the bacon to you. I didn't eat any though," Aziza said quietly.

_Creak creak._

"Holy Medusa. You didn't eat bacon? What's wrong with you?"

Rose hit Pippa on the arm and whispered, "There's nothing wrong with becoming a vegetarian! What do you think that means?"

"Well I know it's giving up meat. But how can you give up bacon? That's like the Supreme Most Delicious Top of the World in the Food Kingdom."

"It actually wasn't that hard. There's other food just as good as bacon out there."

_Creak creak._ The professor gave a loud huff of indignation in their direction.

Pippa looked skeptical. "It'll take more than that to convince me."

"I also made the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Keeper," Aziza said with a twinkle in her brown eyes as she finally looked up at her friends.

_Creak creak, SMASH_.

Pippa pushed too far back and the chair tipped over. "You tried out for Quidditch?" she exclaimed loudly from the floor. All heads in the classroom turned to the back.

"That's it!" shrieked the Professor. "Out, out, OUT! All three of you!" She stormed up the aisle to them and banished them from the class. They quickly shoved their notes, books, and quills in their bag and ran out of the classroom.

"Wentworth isn't even in this class," they heard a Gryffindor girl say behind them.

Pippa was giggling. "Ah, Professor Alicant cracks me up. Let's go outside! I've got some new braids I want to try in your hair."

"At least we've already heard the lecture. . . " Rose said. Aziza and Rose exchanged looks. It was OWLS year. She didn't want to get kicked out of class in only the first month of school. She really didn't want to have detentions dominating her life either. The problem was that those ideas were thoughts. Rose didn't know how to voice them to Pippa because she probably wouldn't take it very well.

"I guess we'll head out," said Aziza reluctantly. She then perked up. "I can also show you the broom I'm using. It's in the storage shed at the Quidditch pitch.

"Ugh. _Medusa_. Quidditch? It's such a drag. And now you'll be gone most of the time for practices and you'll be all 'buddy-buddy' with your team. Were tryouts that day you didn't meet us for breakfast?"

"Yeah they were." Aziza kicked some student's broken quill down the corridor, watching it tumble around and around as they made their way through the castle. "I'll still be around. There's not _that_ many practices. And Pippa, you two will always be my best friends. No matter what.

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled in reply. There was a frown on her face Aziza didn't like.

"There's also a few games. And won't you guys come watch some of them? I know we've never gone to one before. . . I'm really nervous."

"Of course we will!" said Rose. "It's about time we did something school spirit related besides lose points for our Houses."

Pippa grunted. The two girls didn't ask if that was an agreement or a denial.

* * *

A pea hit Pippa on her face. She turned her head slowly and glared at James.

Another one came.

"Excuse me," she said. "Are you throwing _peas_ at me?"

She blinked as one hit her eye. Another one got stuck in her hair.

"Don't be absurd," James chastised. He waited until she looked back down on her plate before he sent another pea.

"POTTER!" she roared and lifted her whole plate and chucked the soggy mess at him. Potatoes with gravy dripped down his face and he stared at her with owl eyes.

"Alright. You don't like peas, duly noted!"

* * *

It was midnight and Rose couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and then tossed some more. Finally having enough of it, she kicked off all her blankets and walked down to the Gryffindor Common Room to sit before the fireplace. There were fuzzy red blankets hanging on the back of the couch that she pulled down to drape over herself.

Only a few stragglers were awake playing chess at one of the tables, but they left Rose well enough alone. It was rare she stayed in her Common Room and therefore didn't really know many students of her House very well.

She knew some people thought she shouldn't be Gryffindor. And Rose sometimes seriously wondered that herself. She didn't get along with the other Gryffindors – besides her cousins and brother and they didn't count.

What was it that made her a Gryffindor? She wasn't really afraid to tell off anybody – but that wasn't necessarily a characteristic of being 'brave,' and brave was apparently one of the characteristics of her House. She was best friends with a Slytherin and Hufflepuff and not really loyal to her House. Heck, now that Aziza was in Quidditch, she would go to the Hufflepuff games and cheer her on! Why had she never gone to Gryffindor games or cheered for them? Both Lily and James were on the team!

If Aziza and Pippa weren't in different Houses themselves, Rose knew she would have started to resent being in Gryffindor all alone.

In her first year of school, on the first day, when she met the other girls of Gryffindor, they were guarded against her. They didn't know how to act around her and ended up calling her names and excluding her from everything they did because she was different from them. There were a bunch of things that weren't exactly 'normal' about her, like the fact that she had toads as pets, which they considered an anti-Gryffindor trait for some reason. She hardened herself to their reception, but it wasn't easy to take classes or share a dorm with them. There were four other girls in Gryffindor. They didn't even give her a chance now to try to be friends. They seemed to regard her as a huge traitor because she found friends in the other Houses. It would have been a lose-lose situation for her either way.

Rose knew she had been rather weird back in first year and probably a lot to take in for new students. She sometimes talked to her toads, she carried around obscure muggle playwrights, and she said the weirdest things – like who would ever say the words 'motley-minded coxomb lout!"

Come to think of it, Rose didn't know if she would be friends with her first year self given the chance.

She really thought about that for a minute before dismissing it. Anybody who was as obsessed with J. M Barrie's works at that age would be good in her books. And anybody who had toads – well they would be best friends for sure.

And she wouldn't trade Pippa or Aziza for all the Gryffindor girls in the world.

Her vocabulary and colourful language was just a quirky trait about her that she liked playing with once in awhile. She hadn't really voiced any of her Shakespearean insults recently. She had a page filled with them – probably at the bottom of her trunk now – that as she had read through the plays she would write down the memorable or funny ones.

After following that little bunny trail, she returned to her main discontent: being in the Gryffindor Common Room. Somewhere in the past few years, the Slytherin Common Room became more comfortable to her. All this red and gold was_ too_ _red and gold_. And even though there was a beautiful view of the sky and grounds from the windows here, it didn't quite compare to seeing underwater in a lake. She saw a mermaid once, and nothing couple rival that! She told her dad that and then had such a fun time bringing it up because he always went red and then stuttered, horrified at the thought. It wouldn't take long before he would leave for the Potters to vent at her Uncle.

Maybe she should have just been in Slytherin? Or maybe she should try to make a little more effort to be in this Common Room and interact with some of her House.

That was a lovely thought but not quite so easy to put into practice. . .

She was just about asleep on the couch when suddenly, from out of nowhere appeared Lily. Rose blinked in shock and brought up her hands to – to _what? _This was Lily, not some attacker. And she was holding the invisibility cloak in her hand.

She smiled at Rose's fickle defense and sat down by her. "Can't sleep either?"

Little Lily who was just personified everything Rose wished she could be pulled Rose's blankets up and crawled under them to snuggle close to Rose. Lily had similar red-orange hair to Rose that wasn't as obnoxiously bushy and was a lot shorter. Even though her older brother had red hair too, they seemed to miss out on the memo that they needed astronomical amounts of freckles to accompany the colour. Lily just had a few light freckles across her cheeks and nose, and two in her green eyes. The rest of her body was spotless.

Rose was all freckles and angles; she still had bony elbows and knees, covered with freckles, and her face was the same. She had finally managed to grow taller, but she didn't look very proportional. Lily was small, filled out a bit more, and wasn't so angular. She looked healthy and cheery all the time.

Rose sighed loudly and hoped she could eventually be comfortable with herself. She was who she was and couldn't change that. She hated having negative thoughts.

"Yeah sleep is eluding me," replied Rose. Lily nodded and put her head on Rose's shoulder. It made Rose wonder how much Lily wished she actually acted like a Gryffindor and was around more often. They were the only two girls in their family in Hogwarts at the moment and with Rose gone all the time to the Slytherin Common Room, Lily was by herself. Rose put her head on top of Lily's.

She could feel the vibrations from Lily's voice as she talked. "I was going to go sneak out to Hagrids for some tea, if you're interested. He said to come visit him sometime this weekend. Though he probably didn't mean this late. . . But I saw that the light in his house was on and I was awake. If you don't want to come though, I might just skip out on that to stay here."

"Let's go in ten minutes or so. I'm warm and comfy and don't want to get up quite yet." The fire crackled loudly.

"Sounds good to me."

The invisibility cloak was bunched up on the couch beside Lily and Rose asked about it.

"James passed it down to me and Al. He said he'd had quite a bit of use with it and it was now our turn to have fun even though he still has a year left. Only this is the first time I've had it in forever. I don't know where Al goes, but he's using it all the time."

"Al doesn't seem to by the type to sneak out," pointed out Rose. She was so content just sitting there with Lily. Her eyes involuntarily closed.

"I know. . . and he won't tell me where he goes. I've been asking for the cloak the past two weeks and he said he couldn't hand it over quite yet. But I have it now, and am going to take full advantage of it!"

"Where do you go?"

Lily yawned and snuggled closer. "Sometimes the Quidditch pitch with my friends to fly on brooms. . . the Astronomy tower when there's no labs up there. It's usually whim of the moment."

"That sounds fun. . . It's nice to go incognito for awhile. . . " Rose said. And that's the last thing she remembered for she fell asleep. Lily pulled the blankets up higher over them both and snuggled closer before falling asleep as well.

* * *

"Rose, Aziza, P_ipp_ -" Scorpius covered his mouth and his eyes bulged.

"Did Scorpius just squeak again!" laughed Pippa.

They all looked at him. He was a fifth year now and thought he was past that phase. He cleared his throat and pounded his chest a few times.

"No. . . No I didn't," he said in a very deep, uncharacteristic voice. "Can we do Herbology later tonight?"

His face turned red when the three girls fell over laughing and he turned his back to scurry away.

"We can do Herbology though! See you tonight!" called out Rose.

* * *

The second Hogsmeade trip of the year came up and Rose found herself traversing the distance alone. Pippa had her usual Saturday detention, but she was also banned from all Hogsmeade trips for the year already – in fact she had _never_ been to the wizarding village, and the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was spending the morning practising at Hogwarts then going for lunch together at The Three Broomsticks. Rose had a free morning and was planning to meet Aziza at two.

She let her hair hang loose and put on her wide brimmed sun hat, soon setting off with a bag full of books. Her plan was to go to the candy shop to get some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and sugar quills, then get some real quills and more parchment paper at the bookstore. It wouldn't actually take that long to do her errands, so she had a few hours to read some of the new books her mum sent her.

She left after eating two muffins for breakfast with Matilda and Guacamole resting in her pockets. She travelled the well-worn path over to the village, pulling out_ A Doll's House_ by Henrik Ibsen as she tramped through the dead, brown grass.

That was a lie. The grass was only mostly dead. There were still a few green pieces intertwined in the earth. Winter was coming and nature was slowly changing colours from majestic greens to the rich oranges, yellows, reds, and browns.

Double checking to be sure she was all alone, Rose started reading out the lines, dramatizing the work in her head. She could picture the scene set out before her; imagining Nora fluttering about, Torvald speaking down at her, treating her no better than a _squirrel_.

She pulled the curtains in her mind. . . perhaps on a stage, one day. . .

It made for a very exciting trip to Hogsmeade.

She ran into Josef, Al, and Scorpius at her first stop in Honeydukes. The first thing she noticed was that Josef and Al were both wearing their prefect badges on puffed out chests.

Josef saw her first and he tugged on Al's shirt. "'Lo Rose," he said. He never was one for many words. She gave a smile at him.

"Oh you're here! I didn't think you'd come today," Al said. Squished up next to him in the packed shop Rose was surprised to see she was almost as tall as him. "You could have caught a carriage with us to avoid that tiresome walk. I think we're almost done here though. Scorpius is just paying."

Rose looked over to the counter to where Scorpius was talking candidly with the owner. He was easily visible as he stood a few heads taller than all of the students in the place. He looked over at them and grinned at seeing Rose.

"It's okay, I enjoyed the walk. I just have to pick up a few things before I meet Azzy after lunch. And I brought books to read." She knocked on her heavy shoulder bag to show him.

"Sounds heavy," commented Josef.

Rose shrugged. "It was heavy in first year. Now my shoulder has developed large callouses to dispel the pain."

The two boys looked absolutely grossed at her comment and Rose shook her head. "I'm kidding! . . . partly. Oh, here comes Scorpius."

Scorpius made his was over to them and lifted Rose's hat off her head to put it on his. "Shall we head out mates," he said to Al and Josef, giving Rose a cheeky dimple filled smile.

She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him, trying to keep her smile from slipping out. "That hat does not become you at all. It makes you look like a scarecrow."

"She's right," Al said. "Straw hats don't fit your complexion. You're too fair."

Scorpius sighed and plopped the hat back on Rose's head. "Nobody understands fashion these days."

"You poor misunderstood soul," Rose intoned. Al informed her they had to leave to make an appointment. She tipped her hat to Scorpius and waved at the other two as they left.

She was quick inside Honeydukes; buying Bertie Bott's, sugar quills, and splurging on salt water taffy. Instead of lunch a Double Berry Wizochoc Supreme Smoothie was bought at the small café next to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop where incidentally she needed to go next.

Quills, parchment paper, a pocket dictionary, and a bookmark that softly hummed some popular wizarding tunes when not in the pages of a book were added to her sagging shoulder bag.

Now she was ready to just sit and read until Aziza was done her Quidditch stuff. There were about two hours before that time arrived. Rose decided she would head by the Shrieking Shack to find a good tree to curl up under since the area contained many and it wasn't totally off the beaten path. Plus, it was close to The Three Broomsticks.

As she passed by the Hogs Head, she noticed Al and Josef sitting closely together. She debated going in to see them, but something held her back and her play was calling her name. Scorpius was also no longer with them.

By the time she was seated and reading on a pile of red and brown leaves, there was no need for a sunhat even though she left it on. The rest of the day looked cloudy with no chance for the sun to return. She curled her legs up under and got back into the lives of Nora and Torvald. Her bookmark was humming in the background and Rose was lost in the literature.

She was so focused that she didn't hear when someone started walking up the path, and approached her.

The crunching of leaves entered her ears too late. Just as she looked up, her book was torn from her hands.

She scrambled upwards to face Nolan. "Give my book back!"

"Oi! Lads! Look who I found," Nolan shouted out behind him. Rose could make out four figures coming closer. One of them had blonde hair.

"This isn't funny," Rose said with clenched teeth. "Give. My. Book. Back."

Nolan faced her and held it over her head. "What are you going to do toad-girl? Jump for it?" And while Rose would have been able to reach for it if she jumped, she had too much dignity to take such an action. She didn't want him to have the upper hand.

"What's your problem you ignoramus prat? Can't face me on your own so you need your goons to back you up?" Nolan lowered the book but still held it out of reach. His friends were getting closer and Rose felt surrounded. Rarely did other students venture up the path. She felt around for pockets for her wand and then realised with cold dread that she had left it at the school. At least her toads were not with her at the moment.

As soon as he could see it was her, Scorpius avoided her eyes and turned to argue furiously with one of the boys near him. Whatever they were arguing about, Scorpius looked horribly displeased, and sick, for his face turned pale. His steps got slower and slower until they came to a stop beside Nolan.

"We should all go – " he started to say as he turned around, but Nolan cut him off and one of his friends grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"You're going nowhere Malfoy. Stop holding everyone back. You're right where you belong," he sneered. "It's time for Weasley to learn a very important lesson. Just because she knows big words and insults doesn't mean she's smart. She came to read _all alone_. Now how was that a good idea?"

"Stop being such a fat-toed haggard! You're sick." She took a few steps towards him, but someone grabbed her arm like an iron vise and held her in her place. She pulled Nolan's friends stupid finger back until he yelped and let go.

His friends started encouraging Nolan on. He ran a hand through his white blonde coloured hair and practically _preened_ with all the attention he was receiving. He stepped back just out of reach held up her book in front of him, opened it, and tore a page out with a loud rip.

Rose's hand flew to her mouth and her heart pounded against her ribcage. The page fluttered to the ground slowly in front of her. All she could see was the line:

_It's happening. It's happening after all. No, no, no, it can't happen, it mustn't happen. _

It was happening. She couldn't believe it, yet there was the ripped page. She kept looking from the page to Nolan and back again. She would rather take a punch to the face than have her book desecrated in front of her.

Another tearing sound and a second page joined the first. Rose stood there in shock. She looked up at all Nolan's friends, and they were laughing and slapping him on the back. . .

Was Scorpius just going to stand there?

"Not so brave now are you Weasley? Not when your precious book is being maimed. How many pages should I rip? Now let's see. . . here's one for first year, and second. . . and that time in second year where you hexed antlers on my head. . . "

Thirteen pages fell to the ground. One of Nolan's friends stomped on them and ground them into the dirt, leering at her while doing so.

For the first time in her life Rose was speechless and powerless. Usually her temper flared up at this point, but right now it was depressed; just coals where usually there were flames. She honestly didn't know what to do.

". . . and all the times you and your swarmy friends so much as breathed on me. . . "

How could her day have had such a reversal? Nolan's voice started blurring out and Rose could hear the humming of her bookmark. Her mind turned away from Nolan's tauting and cruel words.

Her eyes went to Scorpius's and he looked miserably at her. He didn't even look like himself, his usual casual attitude and happy nature were nowhere in sight.

_Aren't you going to say anything?_ Rose asked him silently. _Aren't we friends? _

He was tense and his fists were balled up tight, veins popping. Rose looked away from him, feeling betrayed by his lack of action. She knew that it wasn't in his character to make a scene by standing up for others, or even himself; hadn't the first five years of school been that? - hiding from Nolan when he was with them, not saying anything when Nolan had previously teased Rose.

Who did he actually consider his friends? Nobody really knew Scorpius hung out with her, Pippa, and Aziza. Was he embarrassed of them? Did he even think of them as friends or was it all a pretense? Weren't friends supposed to be loyal and stand up for one another?

She couldn't be mad at him when she had five years of evidence for his behaviour. She couldn't be mad, but she could be disappointed. And she was. There was a small secret place deep inside of her that dearly hoped he would step up and say something; prove who he actually was.

If he actually cared about them, _her_.

Before she knew it, all the pages were ripped out in front of her. Nolan threw the cover at her and it hit her stomach and flopped to the ground to join the rest its pages.

Nolan came up close to her and whispered venomously in her ear. "This was just a warning. Stay away from me and _my_ friends."

He tore her hat off her head and stomped on it. Rose could see the single strands of her red hair fall around her face from where the hat dislodged them. She stayed standing until Nolan and his friends disappeared over the hill. She saw Scorpius look back apologetically once before they were out of sight.

Rose held together, her jaw numb with how hard her teeth were clenched together. The she slowly sank to the ground and picked up the pages of the book and put her sunhat in her bag.

She didn't go meet Aziza at two.

* * *

It took her only five hours to get her game face ready for her friends. She didn't want them to know what happened at Hogsmeade; with Nolan, Scorpius, and co. Her friends didn't suspect a thing. It was a stage and she was simply an actress on it, laughing, joking, doing homework, going to classes. She doubted even her parents would have been able to tell, she hid it so well. But it was all fake. Scorpius kept his distance. Aziza and Pippa noticed that. Rose lied and told them she had no idea. He didn't hide his attitude. He was moody, miserable, and kept to himself.

"Pippa can you teach me how to punch?" Rose asked quietly a few days after the incident when she was seated in the Slytherin Common Room. Pippa was braiding her hair again instead of doing homework.

"What!" Pippa pulled tight in surprise and Rose rubbed her cheeks to loosen the skin that was being pulled.

"Well, out of all the people I know, you seem to have the most knowledge. . . And you've gotten numerous detentions for punching students."

"I – well. Yeah. But – _Who do you want to punch_?"

Rose shrugged. "Just something I might need one day."

It wasn't until Christmas that she finally let that face drop. She finally let the hollowness take over her and holed up in her room. She just needed a break. She just didn't want to act out plays with her cousins; she didn't want to read any books; she didn't want to hang out with her family.

Rose would lay on her bed with Matilda and Guacamole sitting on her chest, staring at her, for hours at a time.

Unfortunately her whole family noticed and constantly asked her what was wrong. She didn't give them an answer, couldn't really. She didn't _actually_ know what was wrong. It was just some stupid book of hers that was wrecked. It was a physical book, easily replaceable. . . Yet Nolan's face and his taunting. . . And _Scorpius_. Why did she expect so much out of Scorpius? Why was she so utterly disappointed now? It was stupid.

Chocolate raspberry cake didn't even cheer her up. She wasn't that hungry. She would have been content to lie on her bed all holiday except her mum and cousins intervened with a shopping trip.

"Rose! Your trousers are two inches too short! Don't tell me you've grown again!" her mum exclaimed when Rose trudged down to the kitchen for a family supper.

A close inspection of all her clothes revealed that all of Rose's trousers were far too short for her, her shirt sleeves not long enough, and her socks all had holes. Rose hadn't even noticed.

Roxanne, Lily, and her Aunt Ginny accompanied Rose and her mum shopping in London.

It was a combination of the fresh air, the distraction, her cousins, her aunt, her mum, a new background, and shopping that finally made Rose feel better. Not one hundred percent, but enough that she could smile without forcing it.

Roxanne and Lily hooked their arms through Rose's and they promenaded the streets, owning the sidewalk, kicking pop cans up the street, terrorising the mice.

Rose felt herself laughing a true laugh.

She didn't tell anyone why she was depressed, but they seemed to understand.

"Don't ever let a boy bring you down," Roxanne advised to both her and Lily. "They aren't worth it. Find someone who accepts you for who you are. Alright? Someone who you can count on and trust. There's enough of them in the world that you never have to settle for less than what you deserve."

* * *

"So do we have to wear Hufflepuff colours? Black and Yellow? Because I feel like if anyone in my house sees me in those colours they will skin me alive. Probably the same with your house as well. People hold such lame grudges."

Rose shrugged and dug through her trunk deeper. "I don't know! I don't think Azzy will really care what we wear. . . But it's not like we should wear our own house colours. We're supporting Aziza and no one else."

"So that leaves us with. . . Well, pretty much _going naked_! In winter nonetheless!" Pippa sighed and fell backwards onto Rose's bed. "This is ridiculous, so much hype over just one game. Let's just stay inside and not worry about all this."

"We're supporting our friend and _you_ saw her this morning, she couldn't stop shaking. She needs us out there."

"Blegh. It's just the stupid politics with this school. We're the least popular students going to a popular sports game. None of us are from the same house. Where are we even going to _sit_? We'll probably just get kicked out because nobody will know who we are for we've never been there before and they'll think we are imposters who don't belong. Or because we're not sitting in our own house seating. You see how much flak we get for sitting with each other at _meals_."

Rose finally found the black tuque and mittens she had been looking for and then sat down on her bed beside Pippa. Since it was winter, Matilda and Guacamole were seated on her pillow. They didn't move around very much during this time of the year because they were ectothermic. At least there weren't many spiders around in wintertime. "This _is_ rather difficult. They should have a neutral seating area for people like us."

"Agreed." Pippa sighed.

As it was winter, they didn't have much choice what colours they would wear. Pippa's winter coat was grey while Rose's was brown. At least those colours weren't assigned to a school house. Pippa sported a yellow tuque and wore green mittens; Rose wore her very unused Gryffindor scarf. Their tuques together were Hufflepuff colours. They were even wearing some blue to encompass all the houses (Hufflepuff was playing against Ravenclaw so they didn't want too much blue).

"Do we really have to go?" complained Pippa once again. Her and Rose were making their way to the Quidditch pitch for the second time in their history of Hogwarts, the first time was First year disastrous broom lessons. It was an unfamiliar path for them both but at least there was a well-worn trail through the snow they could follow.

They were following a group of First year Ravenclaws who kept stumbling over the well-trodden icy trail.

"Well would you rather be in detention? 'Cause that's technically where you should be right now." They reached the stadium and the two girls stared at the massive structures.

"It's funny how different this place looks now that we're older. . . _strange_. And technically yes, but really no. Me and Professor Mowla have reached a mutual understanding last year that if I don't squeal on the fact that he sleeps through the afternoon on Saturdays, he won't make me stay the full six hours." It had gotten to the point that all the professors were sick and tired of having detention with Pippa; they let a lot more slide now than they did in previous years.

"Rose! Pippa!" called out Lily from beside one of the seating structures as she stood with a group of friends. She came running through the snow towards them. "Is this actually you!? I can't believe you're at a game! This is awesome!"

Hugo waved enthusiastically at them from his and Lily's group of friends. They were all decked out in red and gold even though Gryffindor wasn't playing.

Rose laughed. "Yeah. It's Azzy's first year on the Quidditch team. Keeper."

"I'm definitely writing your parents about this," Lily said happily. She flicked her red hair behind her shoulder. She was wearing a scarlet overcoat and gold everywhere else. She was like a walking, talking mascot for her House. "Uncle Ron will be ecstatic. Do you want to come sit with us? We're near the Hufflepuff end? You'll have the best view of the goalposts."

Rose looked at Pippa and raised her eyebrows. Pippa rubbed her arms uncomfortably as she stared around at the structures and the students all around her. "I guess. At least we might not get booed from the stands with your crowd."

Lily took them by the hands and dragged them over. "Silly. Why would anyone boo you? Everyone loves newcomers. BUT, if anybody does say anything they have to get through all of us. Don't you worry." She raised her eyebrow at them and grinned.

The announcer was already talking and calling the players to the field. They were just in time to see Aziza fly on; face intent and concentrated towards the goal posts.

". . ._ Gerbacht, and finally, new to the field this year we have_ _Keeper - well there's so many silent letters in her last name that if she wasn't my cousin's friend I would have mispronounced it - Keeper Mhnakistkkrgha. . . "_

Her last name was still mispronounced (it was _Nakisra_, not _Nakistraga_).

"Is that James announcing!" exclaimed Pippa disbelievingly. She put her hand to her head and looked outwards towards the main stands to try to see.

"Yeah. This is his claim to fame I guess." Aziza flew closer to them and Rose excitedly grabbed Pippa's arm and started jumping up and down. "Azzy! WOO! WOO!" yelled Rose and Pippa started howling.

Aziza looked over at them and it was as if the nerves melted away from her face. She smiled a relieved smile and waved back.

"Alright, so she saw us. We head out now?" They walked up to their seats, sitting behind some younger students and ignoring all the wonderment looks they were getting from the Gyyffindors who just saw them wildly cheering.

"Pippa!"

Everyone went to their positions on the field and the game started. James had a hell of a time keeping up with all the passes and plays that were going on. Ravenclaw scored three in a row first, and then Hufflepuff got their heads in the game and caught up, leading 50-30.

About fifteen minutes into the game, Rose finally took her eyes from the game and noticed the dirty glares she was getting once in a while from the younger students in front of her. It took her a few moments to figure it out, but they were shooting glares at her because her knees kept hitting their back as she was shifting around. They were too nervous to say anything to her for she was so much taller and older than them. Rose moved back farther on the bench to try to create more room. It was a bit squishy.

"My hands are still freezing!" they heard the younger students say to each other. They weren't wearing mittens, a tuque, or a scarf at all and were rubbing their hands together.

Pippa smirked and pulled her scarf tighter around here face to block the wind chill. She turned her attention from the one of her buttons and looked at the game.

"_And that's a quick retrieval by the Ravenclaws. The chasers quickly move up the pitch - Raja - Polikstanscjin - Raja - Domino - and he shoots! Oh! Just saved by the fingertips. And_ _Mhnakistkkrgha passes it to Trebond. Ah. Bad pass Mhnakistkkrgha, keep an eye out for the Beaters, they are tricky players. . . "_

Hugo grabbed Rose's arm from behind her. "Did you see that save! Aziza's got some tricky moves under her sleeve. That was a tough shot."

"Oh Medusa. I think I missed it," Pippa said. "This game is too bloody fast. The Quaffle is back and forth, back and forth. And I don't even know who to watch - the Beefers, sleeper, or keeper?"

"You make it so difficult. I don't know why you hate the game so much and you're not muggle-born so I don't know why you know nothing about Quidditch."

"I just don't," she said shortly and put her tuque down lower over her face and turned to her button again.

That wasn't the only remark she made however. Pippa didn't stop complaining about the game the longer it went on. She was bored, hungry, tired, and then thirsty. She also didn't know what was happening for the game was moving too fast.

Rose was about to wring her neck with all the complaining around her – both beside her and in front of her. She just wanted to go ten minutes without being asked if they could leave or hearing about how cold the younger students were who were sitting right ahead of them.

The girl and the two boys started to get braver and were now pushing back a little bit against Rose's long pushy legs that didn't comfortably fit in the seat. She couldn't stop hitting their backs. She would start to pay attention to the game and creep up in the seat, not really realising she was annoying them until after the fact.

"You said yesterday that you'd bring my tuque and mittens to this game for me because I wouldn't have them on me after the Gobstones club. It's your fault!" said the girl. She had her hands stuffed so far up her sleeves you couldn't see where one ended and the other began.

"My fault! I thought you said that you'd bring all of ours! You were the one knitting all the snowmen onto them, I'm pretty sure they're in your dorm right now." replied her friend. "It's Paul who should go to back to the castle and get everything. He's from way up north in Norway! He should have brought _something_ out."

"You can't blame this on me!" the boy Paul exclaimed.

"I swear we were never that annoying when we were little," Pippa muttered to Rose. Rose flared her nostrils. It was rather hypocritical of Pippa to call other people annoying when she wouldn't shut up herself.

"_. . . Raja intercepted the pass. To Domino and oh! Lost the quaffle to a bludger. Picked up by Margo - OH! WHAT A DODGE! YOU CAN SEE THE STUNNED LOOK ON DOMINO'S FACE STILL. HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. MARGO IS RACING DOWN TO THE GOALPOSTS AND IT LOOKS LIKE SHE ISN'T GOING TO BE STOPPED. SHE SHOOTS - AND GOAL FOR HUFFLEPUFF! Phew! That was an exciting moment there folks, hope everyone actually watched that play. The next Harpies Chaser is in the works if that team knows what's good for them. 90 - 80 for Hufflepuff."_

"No, you go get everything from the tower! I don't want to leave and miss some of the game," the girl replied.

Pippa sighed loudly, finally past her limit and tapped two of their shoulders. "You know what ickle bitty Gryffindors, it's your own fault you're freezing. Stop complaining and annoying the hell out of everyone."

The three all slowly turned in their seats to look behind them at Pippa and Rose. They looked Pippa up and down, noticing simultaneously the Slytherin emblem, her warm winter gear, and how small she was in comparison to Rose.

"Well at least we know how Quidditch works and what the positions are. It's almost embarrassing what you're calling the players." The boy (named Alfie they later learned) had very blue eyes and red cheeks chapped from the cold as he looked unblinkingly at Pippa.

"Oh we've got some snooty young kids here," Pippa said to Rose. "At least I'm not freezing cold. Who's stupid enough to not wear warm clothes in winter."

Rose nudged Pippa's shoulders. "They're young! Be nice!"

The girl, Stella, who had sunshine blonde hair, narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Well I bet you one of your mittens that one of the Ravenclaw chasers will score on the Hufflepuff keeper in the next four minutes."

"What! One of my mittens? And you think Azzy will let in a goal?"

"Oooh, too scared you'll lose a mitten?" she taunted slyly.

Pippa looked shockingly at Rose. "Is she serious?"

Rose shrugged. "Well you might lose a mitten."

Pippa crossed her arms and looked at the two girls contemptuously. "What do I get then, if you lose?"

"Hmm. . . " The three friends looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess we'll stop complaining about the cold."

Pippa stuck out her hand. "Deal! Rose keep time." The blonde Gryffindor shook her hand with a big grin on her face. Pippa turned avidly towards the game and for the first time watched and paid attention to what was happening on the pitch.

Rose borrowed Lily's wrist as she didn't own a watch herself and started keeping time. "One minute left," said Rose after a few minutes passed with no goals being scored.

Pippa cursed. The Ravenclaw chasers had the Quaffle in possession and were making their way down the pitch.

"Come on Aziza," muttered Pippa. "You've saved about thirty of these already. Save one more. . . _DAMN_!"

Aziza missed and Ravenclaw was now winning 100 - 90. Pippa very reluctantly gave over one of her mittens. The blonde haired girl and one of the boys stuffed their hands inside of it.

"_Bloody second years_. Think they're so righteous. . . " growled Pippa

The other Gryffindor boy named Paul, tapped Pippa on the knee. "I bet you your scarf that the Hufflepuff beater is going to knock one of the Ravenclaw chasers off their broom."

Pippa frowned. "Like hell that'll happen? How would a Ravenclaw fall off?"

"It's Quidditch. It's possible," Rose told Pippa but Pippa didn't believe her and took the bet anyway.

Ten minutes later Pippa lost her scarf.

"Bloody Gryffindors! It's cold out now. Rose! Share with me, your House is brutal!" She tugged at Rose's scarf but Rose pulled away.

"I'm not giving mine up! Stop betting all your winter clothes away."

Pippa tapped on the three students shoulders. "I bet my scarf and mitten back that Hufflepuff will score the next three goals."

"Alright," they said happily. "If you lose, we get your other mitten and tuque."

Pippa grudgingly agreed. . . And then had to give both up when a Hufflepuff goal was followed by a Ravenclaw goal.

"Good try Azzy," called out Rose. "You'll get the next one."

"This game sucks. I'm cold!" complained Pippa as she put her hood up and burrowed her bare hands up her sleeves.

Rose laughed. "I have no sympathy for you!" One of Lily's friends did however, so Pippa got a scarf to wrap around her face and ears.

The game ended not too long later with the Ravenclaw seeker catching the snitch, making the score 260 - 130.

"That was a pretty good Quidditch game for her first one!" said Hugo on the way back to the castle. They were meeting Aziza for supper after she was done changing and showering. "Azzy flied very well. She just needs a bit more practice with people throwing fakes, almost every one fooled her!"

All the winter gear went back to their original owners after the snitch was caught and Rose and Pippa said goodbye to Lily and Hugo as they went back to the castle.

Pippa was scowling. "Those little Gryffindors are such cheeky bastards. Cheeky cheeky cheeky. . . To think they out-bet me! I almost froze my fingers and ears off! _Little bastards_. . ."

* * *

"Come on in, Rose" Professor Longbottom said. He spread out about four or five pamphlets in front of her on his desk. She sat in the sole empty chair in front of his desk. "Now I've just been reviewing your marks from the past few years and if you keep them up you will have many options for job opportunities. Have you given much thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?"

To tell the truth, Rose was rather dreading this careers advice meeting. She knew she had the marks to go into whatever wizarding field she wanted, but she really had no desire to pursue any of the 'normal' fields she was sure the professors all expected, like Healing, an Auror, Lawyer, or Ministry of Magic positions.

"I like reading," she said rather shyly considering Professor Longbottom was the one professor she was most comfortable with at Hogwarts. He didn't _really _know her and she wasn't sure how to voice what she wanted to do. He was her parent's friend, but not necessarily hers.

"That's a good start," he encouraged. "Have you ever thought about following your mothers' footsteps into a good lawyer practice? There is a lot of reading involved with that profession."

Rose twiddled her thumbs together. She didn't really mean _that_ kind of reading. "I'm not really interested in any Ministry positions. . . or a desk job. . . or anything my family does. . . "

Professor Longbottom looked surprised at that and cleared away the pamphlets from his desk with a swoop. "Alright. Just keep in mind you have the marks to do it if you ever change your mind. Let's start with a blank slate then. What are your ideas?"

Rose took a breath and dove in. "I think I'd like to go to drama school. And I want to learn how to put on plays. . . proper plays, and direct. Maybe write plays one day. . . "

Professor Longbottom's eyebrows raised higher and higher the longer Rose spoke. He looked nervous now, as if Ron and Hermione would hold him at fault that their daughter was pursuing a fine art as a profession.

"Errr. . . okay. Do your parents know about this?"

Rose shrugged. "Well not in so many words. But, I think they've realised where my interests lie. . . I mean it has to be obvious to them, right?"

"Sometimes the obvious isn't as obvious as you think. Last time they spoke to me thinking you'd be interested in Healing. It might be best to tell your parents that this. . . drama school is more than a hobby."

Healing? Rose shuddered. She didn't want to go to school for another five or six years.

"But," Professor Longbottom continued, "we still have to decide what subjects you will take in the next two years of school. I'll be honest with you and just say that I don't know much about the drama schools around here, or the programs available. I'm guessing you don't need to take any advanced OWL or NEWT classes. . . "

Rose raised her hand to stop him. "I'm still going to take all the classes. I have high standards for myself and don't want to get lazy with academics. I might not need them, but they're important still. And. . . also a backup. Just in case."

Professor Longbottom looked relieved. "Sounds good Rose."

They finished up the meeting and Rose headed back up to the castle to the Slytherin Common Room to finish up some homework. Aziza was the second back and Pippa came shortly after. And she was not in a good mood.

"What a load of baloney that was," Pippa ranted. She adopted a heavy, deep accent. "'You no have the attitude or marks for anything. You no try. You get detention too much. You no respect anything. Best to work at Azkaban to not end up there later in life.' Like really. What professor would say that to a student!"

"Slytherin apparently," Aziza said. "My professor wasn't very good either. After everything I said, the only response was 'that sounds wonderful' and 'that sounds interesting.' I asked what some of the opportunities were with my marks, and all I got was 'anything you like dearie. You have the potential to do whatever you set your sights to.' I still have no clue what I want to do. She helped with nothing."

Pippa made a face. "Yours was worse than mine, definitely. At least I have an idea for a job now."

Rose dropped her quill and ink splattered all over her work. Grudgingly she tried wiping it off with her sleeve which only made more of a mess of her sleeve _and_ her paper. "You're not working at Azkaban. No way."

Pippa grinned cheekily. "Well someone's got to do it."

"Says the five foot nothing girl. Good luck."

"I can be fearsome. Size is no indicator of that. And I'm still in hope that I'll grow a little bit more."

"That's beside the point," said Rose heatedly. "You'd get eaten alive in the jail. And why would you want to work with murderers, old Death Eaters, rapists, and thieves. It would be a horrible job!"

Pippa didn't look as shocked as she should have. "We'll see how Hogwarts pans out. As I said, someone's got to do it. And maybe. . . well never mind. At least my professor was right about one thing, it just might keep me out of jail."

* * *

Pippa stood on the edge taking deep breaths. Rose and Aziza stood on either side, much more calmly. All three had their hair in high ponytails and were in their swimming gear. Towels rested by the tree with a full thermos of hot chocolate waiting for them afterwards. It was their annual spring swim and the three were getting mentally prepared to jump in. Accompanying them once again was James and two friends, but their stipulation of being allowed to come was that they had to wait for the girls to jump in first, since it was '_their thing_.'

"Are you ready?" asked Rose.

"Few more minutes," muttered Pippa. Her eyes were intent on the dark water that was ebbing below them, no doubt wondering about potential octopuses and squids.

James and his friends stood behind them. "Are you going to take as long as you did last year? We could have all been in and back to the castle already."

Pippa turned around and gave him the finger.

"Ohh-kay! I'll shut up," he laughed. "But seriously, let's get this over with before we graduate this year."

"The longer you talk, the longer it will take," growled Pippa with another glare at him.

Rose nudged her shoulder. "Ignore him."

The boys started whispering quietly and Rose sighed. They weren't helping anything. In fact, it would be better if they just weren't around and jumped a few hours later. James wouldn't quite understand though, he wasn't sensitive to those types of things. Rose peeked at Pippa and she was still mentally preparing herself with her eyes closed. She squeezed her hand for reassurance.

"GO!" she heard James yell behind her. She turned her head and saw the boys running full tilt towards them.

"Wait!" Rose called and let go of Pippa's hand to raise them against James's friend. "Don't do -"

With Pippa screaming bloody murder, Rose felt herself being unwillingly being lifted up and carried the few steps to the edge where she was thrown in. James had the crazed Pippa who was kicking and flailing her body wildly. They flew through the air and landed with a large splash in the cold water.

Rose's head burst through the surface and she watched the three boys jump in right after. She breathed in very shaky breaths until her body acclimatised to the cold temperature.

Pippa was screaming and yelling obscenities with a huge stutter from the cold as she hit James in the head and splashed him with water. James was just cackling loudly as he let Pippa beat him.

"You guys are idiots!" she said to James's friend who had chucked her in. He was laughing at Pippa and James and shrugged at Rose's comment.

"Yeah, I suppose it is rather funny," admitted Rose. Then she swam to Aziza, giving Pippa a very wide berth.

* * *

"It's a crayon!" said Pippa on the Hogwarts Express back to London as she bit into the blue Bertie Bott's bean. "The brilliant waxy taste. . . brings back many memories of colouring as a child with my sister. "

"Ah, nostalgia," said Rose contently. The sun was shining through the window on her and she felt warm and happy. Rigel was curled up on her lap to the chagrin of Scorpius who passed by every now and then and glared through the window at his cat (or Rose - who could ever tell?). Rose was just waiting to see if he actually came in at all.

"That's rather far off of your guess," commented Aziza. "Blueberries. . . Wasn't even close!"

"Yeah well there's a limited supply of blue things around. I bet this one is going to be a cucumber. Try it." She thrust it at Rose.

"I really don't like the green ones. They are rarely normal things like cucumber, or green apple. It's always the weird ones. Like grass or a grasshopper."

She still bit into it and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's lettuce. Thank goodness."

"Well I can't believe you would still try it after guessing a grasshopper," said Aziza. "And Pippa I really think you've lost your touch. You haven't guessed one right all year."

Pippa scowled. "This one is. . . popcorn!"

She gave it to Aziza who tried it and then spit it out. "Plastic!" she exclaimed. "Stop giving the gross ones to me."

"This game is stupid," said Pippa. "Let's just pawn the rest of the beans off on a First year."

Rose shrugged. "If you want." She was running her hand slowly up and down Rigel's back. He was purring loudly.

Pippa put the beans in her luggage instead of leaving the carriage. The three descended into silence. Rose reading, Aziza half sleeping, and Pippa brooding.

"Summer is stupid. Why can't we stay at Hogwarts all year?"

"Well come visit this summer for once! You can stay as long as you want. . . " said Rose.

"I think we're travelling again. Overseas or something," Pippa said sadly. "I don't know. Don't care."

"Pippa. . . "

"I'm going to the loo."

She left and shut the door harshly. "Do you get the feeling that she's hiding something? She hates that her mum writes her every day and whenever we leave Hogwarts we can never get in contact with her," said Aziza with a look at Rose. "I'm kind of worried about her. . . "

"Me too. She's been really moody lately."

"Ha! Understatement of the century," said Aziza.

Scorpius passed by their carriage at that moment and stopped to look in. He tapped on the glass and looked away.

"What's with him as well? He's been avoiding us for most of the year."

Rose shrugged and pushed Rigel off her lap. "I suppose we're not 'cool' enough for him and his friends. He's got better things to do than spend time with us."

Rigel was meowing loudly at her; unhappy at being disturbed from her lap and the sun. Rose opened the door and let Rigel out to Scorpius.

He scooped his cat up and then fidgeted nervously from foot to foot in front of Rose. She crossed her arms and waited.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Well I forgive you," Rose fired back. "I get that you don't want to stand up to them and we're not good enough for you. I'm not going to hold some stupid grudge against you for the rest of your life." Scorpius seemed shocked by her quick reply.

"Does that mean - are we. . . "

"Friends? Good? I don't know. I think it's _you_ that needs to figure that question out. You better leave before someone sees you talking to me, since I'm such an embarrassment and all. Have a good summer Scorpius."

She shut the door and sat back down to her book, not looking to see if he was still standing there.

Boys. School. Friends. Family. Ugh. Thank goodness for summer. Why did she think Fifth Year was going to be so great again?

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_Literature referenced (roman numerals are the act):_

The Comedy of Errors (1623) - William Shakespeare

The Importance of Being Earnest, I (1895) - Oscar Wilde

A Doll's House, II (1879) - Henrik Ibsen

An Enemy of the People, I, V (1882) - Henrik Ibsen


	4. Act III: Peripeteia

**WARNING: Harsh language and sensitive themes present below**

* * *

**ACT III - _PERIPETEIA_**

_(Sixth Year, Part I)_

* * *

"Hogwarts Hogwarts the Hog-filled Warty Castle, teach us something please. Whether we be old and hairy or young with scaly knees. Fill our brains with poison and little bits of nail. Just don't do us in before we're jailed." Pippa finished her song with her fork striking the glass in front of her. A ringing filled the Great Hall that was lost to the general noise of supper.

"What a lovely rendition of the Hogwarts school song," Rose said sarcastically. "It's even better than the original!"

"Isn't that how it went?" Pippa said, digging into her lasagna with a large bite. "I swear I heard those lyrics from the choir."

". . . No. . . They were definitely different," said Aziza with a laugh. She and Rose piled their plates with vegetables and pasta and started eating.

It was a new school year and all the new students had been sorted, the choir had sung a few school songs, Pippa, Rose, and Aziza had received a detention for sitting at the Hufflepuff table during the welcoming feast, Nolan had already been hexed by Rose when she saw him eyeing Hugo's loose toad with an evil smirk, and Bertie Botts had long been devoured.

They all had passed OWLS, luckily. Even Pippa who did such minimal studying managed to make it through leaving them to wonder if it even was possible to fail the test.

New this year to Hogwarts was that Aziza had been selected to be a prefect. One of the Hufflepuff girls moved away over the summer and the spot was open. She joined the ranks of Al and Josef and to wear the 'P' badges.

Rose was happy for Aziza, but she felt bitter afterwards with the looks her mum was giving her over the summer when they heard the news. They were the same looks she got in fifth year when they heard Al was prefect. She always knew she wouldn't get the title for she had too many detentions and misdemeanours on her record. Yet. . .

She knew how important it was to her mum that she live up to her name and be the best she could be. She knew it meant that the professors thought you were a leader and were responsible. Rose wasn't exactly a bad student. . . but she didn't exactly care about what people thought of her and therefore didn't work on image or controlling her temper and mouth to all those around her. Having no respect for the prefects her six previous years probably didn't help either; Rose knew she was reported more than once for ignoring and telling them off.

Pippa didn't get a badge either, but then again, that was almost a given.

After the feast ended, the three girls headed to the dungeons for their detention for they had to scrub cauldrons in the Potions lab. It was Rose's least favourite detention so far. She would take anything else - really! Washing floors, dusting old trophies, stacking books, grooming broomsticks, picking up sticks, marking assignments, or cleaning the owlery (maybe not that one).

The cauldrons were charred and gross and rusted and they cleaned under the nose of the Potions Professor, an angry man who never smiled. The Potions room they were cleaning in was stuffy and there were barely any windows. There was a strict no wands policy which definitely put a damper on things. They only had one set of leather gloves to protect their hands from the potion residue. After a few hours of vigorous scrubbing, the gloves would get holes in them and as a result, some of the potions residue got on their skin.

The one time a cheering potion got on Rose's hands and her fingers wouldn't stop moving around. It was like they had a life of their own and it was downright creepy.

By the time they finished that night, it was just before midnight. Rose trudged up to the tower half asleep on her feet.

Unluckily she got caught by one of the prefects. And she just didn't care so she didn't explain why she was out late. She walked away while the prefect was lecturing her on why she shouldn't be out past hours and _blah blah blah_. She got a detention for that. The prefect continued to follow her and her head was pounding and she wasn't listening at all.

That detention could have been avoided. It was a stupid move.

* * *

Rigel was following her around the school. Deliberately.

Rose went all the way to the Hospital Wing on the top floor, and then turned right back around and headed to the dungeons, taking shortcuts and speed walking down hallways. The blasted cat steadily padded along behind her. She turned a corner, sprinted down the corridor and ducked under a tapestry to take the secret passageway up four floors. She was out of breath when she emerged from all the hidden stairs and thought she finally lost Rigel, but he meowed right behind her twenty seconds later.

"CAT! What! Gah!" Rose exclaimed at the annoying creature behind her raising her hands to try and ward him off. Guacamole was in her pocket, but Rigel didn't bother her toads anymore so Rose wasn't sure why she was being followed.

He gave another meow at her.

"I think you're absolutely, positively _diabolical,_" Rose told him. "I'm not going to complain to Scorpius. It's like every time you're around I end up talking to him. And no! He has to come to me if he wants to be friends. I'm not the one who's embarrassed about every little thing. It's him."

She abruptly pivoted and took off running at that moment to go to the moving staircases. She accidentally ran through Nearly Headless Nick and he started scolding her. She didn't stop to hear his rant.

As she reached the platform, the staircase was just leaving.

"Oh shit," she said, with a quick glance behind her. She was desperate enough to make the split second decision to try to escape Rigel. "I'm doing it. _Bloody hell_."

There was the briefest hesitation before she jumped. A small scream came from her throat and the staircase was about a metre and a half away now. She was over just air – and then momentum brought her to the stone steps. She landed and fell a bit down the stairs before she managed to grab hold of the railing. That would probably bruise tomorrow.

"What is wrong with me," she said through disbelieving laughs. She just jumped to a staircase that was four floors up to escape a _cat_. She was insane!

"_ROSE WEASLEY_," she heard a voice scream from above her. "100 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR. DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS AGAIN!"

It was the Professor Alicant. Just her luck. And no one in her House would be impressed with her for losing all those points so early in the semester. _Even better_. It had been four years since Gryffindor even got close to winning the House Cup.

But she _had_ to escape the manic cat!

She yelled out '_sorry_' back and then quickly left the vicinity before she could be yelled at further. She turned the corner, tripped over a stone that was sticking out a little too far, and fell right in front of the damned cat who was sitting stoically and placidly on the ground. Rose stopped, stunned.

"You're kidding me!" she exclaimed and rested her chin on her hands as she stared Rigel down. She stayed on the floor even though her elbows and knees were both skinned and bruised.

"You're telling me," Scorpius said behind her as he had seen her turn the corner and followed. He walked in front of her and she saw he was holding Matilda in his hands. "Rose, Matilda won't stop hopping behind me."

Rose's mouth dropped. "What! Your cat won't stop following me! And he's been doing it for the past five years. Matilda has never followed you before. Are you sure?"

He waited for her to pull herself up before he thrust the toad into her hands and crossed his arms. "I'm sure. He's followed me from the Greenhouses to Hagrid's house to the Great Hall. . . "

"What is wrong with them?" Rose muttered, more to herself than to him.

"Yeah. . . " Scorpius scratched his head. "I don't really care too much that your toad was following me, it's just that if Nolan and his friends see her, they're going to stomp on her or do something else cruel like that."

Oh. Rose scowled at the thought. "Thanks for warning me, I guess."

"Yeah. . . " Scorpius shuffled his feet together and took particular interest in the lamp on the wall. "Rose, I do want to be friends still. With you and Pippa and Azzy. I just. . . " He paused and continued much slower. "Well Nolan thinks you guys are the scum of the Earth and. . . "

He left the sentence hanging. _And I'm more scared of him than you. And he controls my life. And I can't stick up for myself. And he's a family friend. _Rose wondered what he would say if she pushed him to answer. But she didn't. She was scared of his real response.

"We miss having you around," she stated. "You're always welcome to join us and do homework or whatever."

Scorpius gave a half-grin that unfortunately didn't show his dimple and then said, "Potions homework getting you lot stuck again?"

Rose scowled again, but a different scowl than before; this one more playful. "You wish. It's the Herbology we're stuck on."

Scorpius groaned at that thought, for someone who loved the outdoors as much as him he had a problem with the plant class.

The two joked around, at ease, for the first time in almost a year before departing, carrying their respective pets. Rose realised how much she missed talking with Scorpius and hanging out with him. It was almost like nothing had happened; she was glad they talked.

* * *

An idea entered Rose's head. A little squirming idea that just wouldn't leave her alone.

It started when Aziza was drawing in class one day. She drew a generic boy, and dressed him in regal looking clothes. She added a cape, puffy shoulders, and a crown. Around him she drew a King and Queen, making the boy effectively a prince. She then erased the boys arm and redrew it so it pointed accusingly at the King and Queen, who sat stiff and unmoving; emotionless in front of him.

"Stop the madness. Stop the slaughter!" Rose wrote on her own paper after Aziza finished the doodle. She immediately crossed it out. She wasn't sure where the phrase had come from. Aziza closed her sketchbook and started focusing on Charms again. But the idea was planted in Rose's head.

A few days later she stood alone in the hallway and raised her hand towards the imaginary King and Queen. "Stop the madness. Stop the slaughter!" she said quietly. "I've stood by too long and allowed your tyranny to overwhelm our people. Something needs to be done. You can no longer bully me into doing what you say. I have a voice and it's about time it was heard."

She stopped talking when she heard voices around the corner. But instead of letting the thought die, she immediately pulled out some parchment and sat down against the wall as she started madly scribbling out what she just said.

Either she was reading too many Shakespearean plays or –

She didn't know what she would do with such a speech at this moment. . . But if she made up some characters and a setting. . . Perhaps. . ._ Perhaps_. . .

There was a world of possibilities.

* * *

Rose and Aziza were eating supper when they noticed Pippa slowly walking towards them, pausing after every step and looking around her. She was clad in mugglewear, black trousers and a woolen jumper.

"What's she doing?" asked Aziza. "She looks suspicious. Did she punch anybody recently?"

"Very good question. . . " muttered Rose. They were both still in their Hogwarts uniform. Pippa probably changed sometime between last class and one of her detentions. It looked like Pippa had a bulge in her jumper where her hands were in the front pocket.

"Are you folks done eating?" asked Pippa. She slid into the seat across from them and leaned over the table, letting her brown hair drag in the bean casserole and not even caring.

"We could be. . ?" said Aziza, eyeing her up through her blue specs like she was an unwanted insect. "What did you just do?"

Pippa pulled back and grinned mischievously. "Come and you will see."

"Pippa. . . " warned Rose. She was just finishing up her almond and pear salad. Out of respect to Aziza, she didn't eat meat in front of her. However, since all their meals were eaten together Rose was practically a vegetarian too (unofficially of course).

Pippa surreptitiously glanced around and then gestured for the two girls to look closer. She pulled something from her pocket - just a corner was pulled back and they could see a brown opaque bottle, almost like -

"Are you kidding me!" said Rose. She leant over the table in one swift motion and covered up the exposed bottle. "_Why the hell would you bring that in here_! Are you crazy?"

Pippa grinned maniacally. "Certified. Seriously. My mum made me see a shrink this summer. I may now have a muggle police restraining order against me. That could just be a rumour, or maybe not. . . "

Aziza looked confused. "What does she have?" she asked Rose.

"A fucking firewhisky bottle!" she growled quietly. Aziza spit out her orange juice and started coughing.

"You - you didn't!" stammered Aziza between coughs. "You're going to get into so much trouble! Who did you get that from?"

"I have my sources. They prefer to remain anonymous." She grinned at the two of them. "Holy Medusa, it's not like this is poison and I'm out to kill anybody." She waggled her eyebrows.

"We're all underage!" hissed Rose. It felt like the whole Great Hall was looking at them. "There is no way in HELL that - "

"Oh shut up and follow me!" uttered Pippa with a roll of her eyes and she quickly scurried out of the hall.

"Oh nononono. She can't be serious!" Aziza put her head in her hand. "If anyone catches her she is going to be expelled!"

Rose slammed her fork on the table next to her plate. "Come on. We've got to – talk _sense_ into her or something. I can't believe she brought that in here. She's completely lost her mind." There was something going on with Pippa. She hadn't been acting like herself at all for the start of the year and just seemed utterly despondent about things she had never before cared about.

Aziza looked troubled as she followed Rose out of the Great Hall. Even though it felt like everyone was watching them, in reality nobody had noticed their little altercation. Pippa was standing by the large doors and as soon as she saw the two emerge from the Hall she opened the door to the night and went out. Rose and Aziza could do nothing except follow.

"Pippa. Stop. What are you doing?" called out Rose once they were outside. "You're going to get caught."

"We're going to get drunk. And we won't get caught. There's no Quidditch tonight and it looks like rain, so everyone will be inside."

That was who Pippa was, she didn't ask. She commanded.

"Pippa, I'm a prefect now! I can't drink alcohol when I have to patrol and be a role model. And I have Quidditch practice tomorrow morning."

Pippa turned around and put her hands on her hips. "_Oh_. So that's it now? You're getting too good for me and Rose? Can't have a little fun with your friends still?"

Pippa walked up to Rose and hooked her arm around her waist, pulling back a little to make the separation between them more apparent. Rose was still shocked that something like that came out of Pippa's mouth. Aziza couldn't see Rose's face in the dark however and so really felt the absence and abandonment of her friends.

Aziza stood defensively. "Don't turn this against me. Of course I'm still friends with you two. I just don't want to drink or risk getting caught. This isn't a game for me. As older students we have more responsibility. I also like playing Quidditch and don't want that privilege taken away."

"Medusa! You're such a fun spoiler. _Seriously._ We won't get caught. Coming?" She started tugging Rose away as she whispered _'thanks for being a great friend Rose.'_ Rose shot a pleading look at Aziza. She didn't know how to say no without hurting Pippa's feelings, but she didn't want to go alone.

Aziza stood there for a long time before she slowly followed. Rose kept shooting glances. She didn't know what to do. They were both her friends and she didn't want to fight with either but she didn't know what to say.

"Pippa. We're underage," said Rose. "I've never had firewhisky in my life." She'd occasionally had a sip of her parents wine. . But firewhisky was a whole new level.

"Rose. Who cares. We can do what we want. We're young and full of life. I've never had firewhisky either. It'll be fun."

Pippa led her all the way to under the Hufflepuff Quidditch stands; the farthest from the castle they could be in the area. They sat down and waited for Aziza to come up. She could barely be seen in the dark because there was no moonlight and she blended into the night well. Aziza sat crossed legged and they formed a little circle. The firewhisky bottle was placed in the middle.

"Stop acting like this is a death sentence. We need to get drunk now so when we go to the parties the Sixth and Seventh Years throw we don't look like amateurs."

Aziza was shaking her head. "I'm not going to those parties."

Pippa let out a huff of air. "Aziza don't be such a goody-two shoes. It's called living a little."

She waited a moment, almost expecting someone else to take the first drink. Nobody moved.

Pippa huffed impatiently and roughly unscrewed the cap to take the first swig of whisky before she thrust the bottle into Aziza's reluctant arms, making grotesque faces and coughing.

With an impassive face she took the bottle. Aziza took a drink and passed the bottle on, being silent in the agony of the burning and only making a slight grimacing face.

It was now or never. Rose hesitantly picked up the bottle and nervously swirled the liquid in her hand. She wished she could be anywhere else in the world at this moment. But her friends had already taken a drink. She couldn't be one to back down.

She winced and despised herself as the firewhisky entered her mouth.

* * *

Aziza was the first to wake up in the morning. She took one look at her surroundings, one look at her watch and started frantically shaking Rose and Pippa.

"You guys. _Wake up! Wake up_!" She roughly shook the two. "Oh no . . "

They were in the Forbidden Forest. Rose had twigs and leaves entwined in her hair; Pippa was missing her trousers. And Aziza had scratches all over her hands, arms and even in the lenses of her glasses. They were also absolutely soaked.

Rose was the first to resume consciousness, and as soon as she saw where she was she shot up. Pippa was sleepier and was groaning.

"I have Quidditch practice in ten minutes," Aziza said with a controlled voice to Rose as she tapped her watch. Her lips were thin and Rose could sense the anger that encumbered her. Rose nodded and then Aziza got up and brushed off, quickly running to the school that could be seen way off in the distance.

Pippa slowly opened her eyes and looked at Rose. "That. Was. Epic," she said breathlessly.

Rose's stomach didn't feel very good. "Where's your trousers?"

"A unicorn stole them." Rose didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had no memory of the previous night. Pippa didn't seem at all concerned that she was just in her knickers and soaked through.

"How?" But she didn't know if she even wanted to know.

"Well I fell into that puddle and got absolutely drenched. We hung my trousers on a tree even though it was raining because we hoped they would somehow dry. They didn't - and then some unicorn got stuck in them as he was tramping around the place and ran off with them on his golden horn thingy."

Rose laid back down on the forest floor. She just wasn't ready to deal with Pippa. She could feel a stick digging into her back.

"That was seriously the best night ever!" Pippa said excitedly. "I feel so alive!" She crawled over to Rose and got entirely too close for comfort as she looked down on her. "Let's do this every weekend, okay? Do you remember the part where you were singing and running so loudly you scared the herd of Hippogriffs? Or when Aziza fell out of the tree when she climbed up it to try to figure out the way back to the school?"

Rose didn't remember anything. It wasn't a good feeling and it scared her shitless. Pippa could be completely bullshitting her right now and Rose would have no idea.

"Just. . . What are you doing Pippa? This isn't us and you're acting different. . . "

The smile immediately dropped from her face. "Rose, you're 16 now. Not a fucking baby. It's time you acted like your age for once and stopped living in your fancies and kid plays."

"_Oh_," she said as her mouth dropped open. _What_! Rose felt absolutely crushed that Pippa could say that to her.

"I've got so many plans for us this year." Pippa's mood turned a complete 360 degrees and she put a smile back on her face. "We're going to have so much fun!" she said happily, disregarding the wounded look that graced Rose's face. Rose zoned Pippa out and just hoped they could sneak back to the castle without anyone noticing.

"I was just joking," Pippa said later when Rose still hadn't replied through her tirade. "Don't be turning into Azzy now." She tried to turn it into a joke, but Rose wasn't laughing.

After Pippa calmed down they snuck to Hagrids hut and pulled off a wet pillowcase from the drooping clothesline. Rose silently promised him she'd return it. Pippa wrapped the cold material around herself and they tried to make themselves more presentable. Luckily they did make it to the school undetected.

Rose thought and hoped that would be the last of the outings, but the weekend after Pippa found her and cornered her. Rose found herself in a similar situation, this time without Aziza because they had no idea where she was.

Rose faked drinking. As they passed the bottle back and forth she only took a few sips. Pippa got progressively more drunk and happy whilst Rose stayed buzzed and miserable. She really didn't want to have any more and hoped that after the wicked hangovers Pippa received that it would stop her from drinking.

But in reality, it was just the beginning.

For the next month straight, Rose started avoiding Pippa on Fridays and Saturdays. On Monday mornings when Pippa asked where she was, she always made silly excuses like 'I was helping Hugo with homework,' 'I was bathing my toads,' 'I had a wicked headache,' or 'I was hanging with Scorpius.'

Pippa drank the first few weekends alone by herself before she started venturing out to find those with similar interests, people who had never given her the light of day before, nor she them. Rose started hearing stories of all the new people Pippa was meeting and the ridiculous stories of what happened or how they were almost caught. Rose found firewhisky so unappealing that the stories didn't make her envious; she had no interest in joining Pippa on the weekends. Aziza stuck with Rose and the two of them hid out together.

"No wonder we're such losers," Rose said miserably one time as they were behind a tapestry. They had seen Pippa off in the distance and ran to hide from her. "People our age are supposed to like going out and doing this stuff."

"It's not our whole year doing it," Aziza said. "There are maybe only ten of them that go out with the Seventh years. And it's _not_ for everyone. I'd rather be a loser than be uncomfortable and unsafe doing something I have no interest in."

Rose had to agree with her.

* * *

"Knight to E5," Scorpius said. He was fiercely concentrated on the board, running through all the possible scenarios in his head of piece movements.

It was down to the last six pieces on the board and things were getting intense. Rose wasn't a nail biter by any means but she couldn't help it today. Her thumb nail was almost gone. Hugo was also tense beside her, but he held still. Chess was one of his favourite games and he could get so focused on the game he forgot the outside world existed. They were in the Slytherin Common Room and had been playing for at least four hours, winner staying to play the next match. Albus won two, Rose one, Hugo three, and Scorpius one.

"Queen to D2."

Albus tisked loudly and Scorpius gave her a quick glance – to check if her sanity was still there, for it could be considered a stupid move with so few pieces left. It left her vulnerable to his rook. The Queen slowly moved across the board and settled into the position. She started nibbling her finger nail again. He either would move his knight which she was hoping against - or his rook, which she considered the greater threat, because then she could take his rook with her pawn, and after that there would be a path for her –

"Bishop to D2."

The blood drained from her face. She didn't see the bishop there. She totally missed it. Of all the _bloody_ pieces – !

The game finished in a few short moves after that with Scorpius cornering and defeating her King.

Scorpius collapsed in his seat with a groan. "Finally I beat you! Good game Rose."

Rose showed him her finger. "I bit my nail down! I've never done that before. 'Twas very well played."

"Rose, if you would have seen the bishop there. . . " Albus said as he scooted her from her chair and sat down. He was to play the winner.

"I know! Can't win every one though." Rose picked up Rigel who had been sitting on her feet and set him in her lap to watch the next match.

"Not everyone can be exceptionally talented at this game," said Albus slyly.

Rose flicked Hugo in the shoulder. Out of them all, Hugo's tactics were the most refined and he was usually the hardest one to beat."Take Al down next. His ego needs some shaping."

"No problem."

Scorpius scowled at the two of them. "Thanks for all the faith."

_Oops._ "You can do it," Rose said weakly with a thumbs up.

He rolled his eyes. "Nice try."

* * *

Early in December Hugo came up to Rose and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

". . . Well hello," she said to him, surprised by his sudden display of affection. Hugo was fourteen and just as tall as her, to her chagrin. His arms were wrapped around her arms, effectively pinning them to her body. She could feel his head on her back.

"So what's this for?" she asked when he didn't let go. It was in between classes and they were standing in the middle of a crowded corridor. The odd person got too close and budged them, but most of the students gave a wide berth.

Hugo said with a voice muffled by her back, "sometimes people say things that aren't very nice about you. And I hear it."

"Ohh. Hugo," Rose said softly. She rubbed his arms as best as she could. "I'm sorry you had to hear that crap. I have too tough of a shell for anything they say to hurt me though. They're just inconsiderate people who think they're better than me."

Hugo gave one last squeeze and then released her. She turned to face him and saw how torn up he was about it. "But they don't even know you!"

Rose shrugged. "Sometimes people are scared of those who act differently than they do. And don't you worry about what they say. They aren't important in our lives and if bringing me down gives them happiness, well, then good for them for being so shallow and narrow-minded. I won't sink to their level."

"Rose. . . "

Rose shrugged and avoided his eyes. "It's okay Hugo. I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be. It's not fair."

"Well, one more year and I'll most likely never see them again. Until then, I'll ignore it. Sometimes time is all that's needed."

* * *

Christmas shopping this year was tough. After they did the family draw (a way to save money in their huge family), Rose had to buy for her cousin Louis. She didn't know him as well as some of her other cousins because he was five years older than her, but her cousin Victoire was giving her ideas. Her and Hugo chipped in for their parents, which wasn't too bad because Hugo always had good ideas for them, and Aziza and Pippa were also easy. Her real conundrum was Scorpius.

She felt that this year she wanted to buy him something. They didn't talk about presents at all, so she didn't expect him to buy anything for her. It was just a nice gesture for that's what friends did, even secret friends. He had a way of making her laugh when no one did, or making her heart beat fanatically without any effort. But she did not fancy him, no. They were just good friends.

She kind of knew his interests; he liked a good game of chess or cards, but what she also figured out about him in the past few months for he was hiding from Nolan as much as she was from Pippa, was that he also really liked being outside and doing all sorts of outdoor activities. He carried a very neat magic compass around in his pocket that had a few different needles that pointed in different directions: North, the nearest water source, one pointed to home, and another to a loved one.

She knew next to nothing about outdoorsy things but decided to wing it and bought him a lantern that was lit whenever fingers were snapped. She wrote him a small note and sent it off late in the evening of Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, she found a gift from him under the tree. Rose had a small pile of presents but his was the first she opened. It was a notebook, a chocolate coloured moleskin that was covered in quotes from some of her books, and a few doodles and little drawings drawn all in black ink.

_Happy Christmas Rose_, the first page read. _Hope you're enjoying your holidays! I know you've started getting into writing, so here is somewhere you can keep it all together. See you soon. Love from, Scorpius_

"Who gave you that," her mum asked her as she picked it up and admired the outside. "It's beautiful."

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose replied. "He's my friend from school." She couldn't believe he remembered all her favourite play quotes, or the ones from Fifth year she had written on the chalkboard that one day.

Her dad dropped the new coffee mug he'd just unwrapped on his toe and started swearing. Her mum put the moleskin back in Rose's hands.

"How close of friends?" she asked slowly, her calculating eyes stuck on Rose.

"_You're not allowed to be friends with him_!" her dad said loudly as he held his toe in pain and rocked back and forth. A not very calm expression graced his face and he looked like he was going to start yelling at any moment.

Rose kept calm and just looked at her dad disbelievingly. "Sure Dad. . . I'm sixteen. You're trying to tell me who to be friends with? You've never met him before!"

His mouth opened and closed multiple times and he looked from Rose to her mum.

"He's my friend too," Hugo piped up with a grin. He held up a book on amphibian anatomy. "He gave me this for Christmas! He's pretty cool."

Her dad's neck and face turned red. Hugo and Rose took that as a cue to run out of the room, leaving their unopened presents for the moment, and giggling like mad almost as if they were young again and sneaking icing off the birthday cake.

"Maybe we'll invite him over sometime," Rose called out when they were safely in the kitchen.

"Ron, go take a walk before you turn any redder," their mum said. "It's Christmas and we're all finally here as a family. If Hugo and Rose are friends with him, I'm sure Scorpius is a lovely young man. Trust your kids. They're smart."

"We have the best mum ever," Hugo said. Rose couldn't help but agree. When their dad finally calmed down more, they went back to finish opening their presents.

After the careers talk with her parents last year, the presents she received from her family were a lot more themed towards it. She received a few books: _How lighting can affect the stage_, _Stage makeup for beginners_, _So you want to be a playwright_, and the whole sort; a few brochures for drama post-secondary schools around the U.K; and a few fashionable, 'artsy' clothes that Rose would probably appreciate more after Hogwarts.

Lily had drawn her name for the family draw and that was the next present she picked out from her diminishing pile. In Lily's clumsily wrapped present she found a few very old Victorian dresses; the sort of dresses they were looking for when they put on the play_ The Importance of Being Earnest_. It was a different and unexpected present, but Rose loved it. She found an empty trunk from the attic and put them in there, officially starting 'The Dress-up Trunk.'

From Aziza, she received some fancy quills from Kenya: a few flamingo, white-starred robin, and a northern double-collared sunbird. The quills ranged in size from the size of her middle finger to the length of her foot.

Rose was slightly disappointed to find that Pippa didn't send her customary Happy Christmas very short and impersonal card for the holidays. Rose had never cared before, but this year she almost wanted reassurance about their dwindling friendship. Something was going on and they were being pushed away.

When she asked Aziza if she received anything from Pippa, Aziza said she hadn't.

* * *

They reached the Hogwarts Express about half an hour before it left the train station. Hugo went running to the train while Rose lackadaisily strolled, taking her time to deposit her trunk in their regular compartment at the caboose. Perhaps one of the biggest physical differences from how much she grew was that she could now reach the shelf where the trunk went and actually lift the trunk up there. Since she had loads of time before the train departed, she headed back out to the platform to wait for Aziza and Pippa.

Her parents had already left to go to work and so she leaned up against the wall – partly in the shadows and watched the Hogwarts students mingle. If it wasn't for a toad on each shoulder, she probably wouldn't have been recognized by the few who glanced her way. She was in her new Christmas clothes and it was a largely different style than anything she'd worn before consisting of muggle skinny jeans paired with brown boots she found for cheap, and a loose fabric green coat with a lining to protect from the cold.

She saw Scorpius arrive at the station with his parents. He seemed stiff and gave them a perfunctory hug each. They didn't smile or make small talk, but when a few of his Slytherin and Ravenclaw friends joined, they all seemed to loosen up and started catching up on the holidays.

The Potters arrived in a flurry and as always, managed to cause a scene when Lily's owl started hooting its head off. Rose didn't go meet them. She stayed leaning against the wall, waiting. There were a few younger years that noticed her and gave a small wave. Rose wasn't used to people acknowledging her presence so she almost forgot to wave back. It was Paul, Stella, and Alfie, the Gryffindors that Pippa always lost bets with on the Quidditch pitch.

Aziza finally made it and after depositing her trunk and she joined Rose at the wall.

"You don't look nearly as cool as you think you do," she said with a smirk.

"I'm not intending to look cool," Rose retorted back.

"I know. It would be much more badass if you had an owl on her shoulder. Or a snake. Or _anything_ else really."

Rose laughed. "I love my toads and I think it's badass."

"Just because you think it is doesn't mean it is."

Rose grinned. Good ol' Azzy to keep her in place. The two settled in to wait.

It was getting _very_ close to departure time before they finally saw Pippa. She came through alone to an almost empty platform and was walking slow and unsteadily. Her trunk seemed to be a liability to her; too heavy to carry. She was tripping and zigzagging back and forth.

"Do you think she needs help with her trunk? What's up with her?" Aziza said. They started walking towards her after Rose put Matilda and Guacamole in her pockets. At a metre away, they realised something was very wrong indeed. Pippa was _drunk_.

She had bloodshot eyes, smelled very strongly of alcohol, and was hiccupping softly. Coupled with the fact that she couldn't walk in a straight line or hold her trunk, Rose and Aziza knew this wouldn't be good. Aziza quickly took the trunk on the train while Rose pulled Pippa's hood up to conceal her face and held tightly to her arm to try to mask her staggering.

"I can fix your hair on the train," Rose said loudly as she steered Pippa toward the compartment and passed some Seventh Years. They had looked curiously at Pippa and Rose wanted to draw their attention away. She kept a calm and happy face and even threw in a laugh for pretenses. If anybody learned that Pippa was drunk. . .

Pippa was leaning heavily on her arm and Rose was doing everything she could to keep her up. Aziza stood at the ready and as soon as Pippa was inside, the door was shut.

"Pippa what is going on? You can't show up drunk to the Hogwarts Express!" excaimed Aziza angrily. She roughly pulled back the hood; Pippa's hair stuck up and looked like it hadn't been washed in days. Aziza held up a water bottle and piece of bread she had grabbed from the food trolley.

Pippa blankly looked at her with no response but did reach out to grab the bread. She started nibbling on it.

"Pippa!" Aziza repeated as Rose stood nervously there. She didn't know what to say. "What's going on? I'm supposed to report this type of behaviour and get a professor!"

The response was a soft snort. "Stop telling _me_. . . what to do," she replied slowly, her words slurring together.

"No! Start talking."

"Maybe we should wait until she's sober," Rose suggested softly to Aziza. Then the bread hit Aziza's face. Pippa had just thrown it.

"Stop telling me _WHAT TO FUCKING DO_!" she all but screamed out. Rose and Aziza stood in shock. Pippa muttered incomprehensible sentences under her breath before she leaned back against the seat, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Aziza and Rose got into a small argument about what to do about her. Aziza wanted to get a professor and get Pippa sorted out. Rose thought it was best to wait and see what Pippa said for herself; they couldn't just turn in their own friend because it would be a huge betrayal.

However, she could see where Aziza was coming from. Pippa had been acting out for months and doing reckless and dangerous things. More than normal. She wasn't treating Aziza very well and they were disjointed at the moment, stemming from who knew what.

When they were twenty minutes from Hogwarts, they shook Pippa awake. It took awhile for her to regain consciousness, but when she did, she looked startled to see them.

"What the. . . ! What are you two doing here?" she exclaimed.

"We're almost at the school. . . " Rose said slowly. "You're on the train right now."

"Holy Medusa. I can't remember getting on it. Do you have any water on you? My throat is dying."

Aziza silently handed the water bottle over and it was quickly polished off.

"Well, I guess I should get my school robes on. . . "

"Sit back down," Aziza said sharply, adopting her best Prefect stance. "You're not getting up until we have an explanation for what this all was."

Pippa raised her eyebrows. "Stop being so prissy. It's called having fun."

"Pippa," Rose said. "That's not having fun. This was bloody scary! You can't just show up completely intoxicated to Hogwarts! It wasn't even eleven in the morning. Why did you drink right before?"

Pippa looked from Aziza to Rose and back again as a contemptuous smile started to form. "You guys are so young and innocent. Not everything is butterflies and smiles. . . I was just hanging with some people who happened to be drinking. And I had a few drinks with them. Chill out. It's not a big deal."

"It was eleven in the morning!"

Silence.

"I'm going to the prefects compartment," Aziza said. "I'm tired of this bullshit." She slammed the door behind her.

"Fuck. Aziza's getting annoying," Pippa said as she went digging through her trunk for robes.

Rose made no comment and pulled out a book. She honestly didn't know what to say, or how to put anything into words. And for the first time in her life, she couldn't focus on reading. But she did what she found she was having to do more and more, she was faking it.

* * *

It was a bad morning where Rose ran into five spiders before breakfast. She did have Matilda with her, but they still shook her up and caused minor panic attacks. It also tore apart her logic that all spiders died in wintertime. At breakfast time, Rose received a note by owl that instantly lifted her mood.

_Can you help me with the Herbology assignment? Lunch in kitchens? -Scorpius_

Aziza had recently made the guess that school kitchens were very close to her common room after constantly smelling the amazing cooking. It took her about two weeks to figure out how to access the inside but as soon as she did, she showed Rose, who then showed Scorpius. They didn't discuss it at all, but nobody showed Pippa.

The kitchen provided a safe and friendly space away from all the students. It helped in matters with Scorpius and interestingly, they had more access to vegetarian dishes. The House Elves were understanding and accommodated the two when they were eating in the kitchens, or when they weren't there, they sent up greater varieties to the Hufflepuff table.

Rose located Scorpius at his table and when he looked her way and she gave a nod.

She spent the morning in classes. Her classes with Slytherins weren't quite what they used to be. Pippa was sitting with a few Slytherin and Gryffindor girls in their year more often since they spent weekends together partying. Pippa had always asked Rose to come, but those girls weren't exactly people who Rose was comfortable with. First of all, they had been rude to her since First Year and second, there were always scandalous rumours about them that left Rose a little wary. Since Rose didn't go sit with them, she often found herself sitting at the back by herself. Aziza said the same thing was happening to her in the classes Hufflepuffs shared with Slytherins.

After morning classes were all finished, she went down to the kitchens where she found Scorpius seated on the floor by the Gryffindor table.

Because the House Elves were so insistent, she got a mug of green tea and then sat down by Scorpius, who was leaning back against the wall and had a few sandwiches on a plate already for them.

"So Herbology, huh?" she said with a smile.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Plants don't make sense. They're so temperamental."

"Potions are worse! There are so many tiny things that can be done to a potion and it can change the whole outcome. So much hasn't been tested. At least plants are rather constant."

"Well if you put it that way. . . You make me sound like an idiot."

"You're still the one who gets potions!" Rose said. "Not an idiot. But here's my drawings and the paragraph. You can model them similarly, but –"

"– no copying," finished Scorpius as he bumped shoulders with her. "I know."

"Well it's important to learn on your own!"

"I'm teasing. I would never copy, ever. We think differently, for one. I just need a basis of where to start."

She handed her paper over to him and he started reading it. He stretched out his long legs next to hers and there was only the tiniest gap between them. Her eyes moved to the kitchens, watching the House Elves busily cook and chatter amongst themselves. It was actually quite spectacular seeing the magic going on: pots clanging, spoons stirring, food boiling.

Scorpius started questioning her about her paper and Herbology in general while writing jot notes down on his.

Aziza showed up about half an hour later after Quidditch practice finished and sat down by Rose, giving Scorpius a nod. She looked troubled and Rose asked what was wrong.

"Well, you can guess I'm sure. It's been building up to this the whole year, even the past two years. She's basically told me that I can't be friends or associate with her anymore because I'm in Quidditch, and a prefect. And a vegetarian and a goody-two shoes. . . "

Rose jerked her head to Aziza. There could only be one person Aziza meant. "She wouldn't!" Rose couldn't believe that, didn't want to.

"Well, she's still been going out on the weekends with 'the party crowd.' It hasn't slowed down or anything like we thought it would. . . And I don't know what they've been saying, but I know they're influencing who she's hanging out with and no matter how much she says she hates when people tell her what to do, she's easily going along with it."

"They're not the nicest people," Scorpius said quietly as he fiddled with his quill. "They're probably just keeping her around to ridicule her. That's what I hear from Nolan and those fellas."

"Maybe I can talk to her. . . " Rose said. "And mention that we're worried she's going _mad._"

"I don't know what good that'll do. I honestly don't think she cares about us anymore."

"She has to. We've been friends for _six years_," Rose said. She didn't know if she believed herself.

* * *

_Hello Aziza, Rose, and Pippa! It's been a long time since we've sent a letter but have we ever been busy. Denika recently married a very Russian man from way in the depths of Siberia. The wedding was half incomprehensible to me and the few other English guests for most of the attendees were Russian! He's a wonderfully interesting man and the two work at the university in Moscow now. One summer after you graduate you will have to go visit; she'd love to have you! I've just gotten back from a two year trek in the rainforests. All the owls were eaten by panthers so I do believe the last letter I tried to send is somewhere half digested or buried under a layer of organic matter. We've uncovered a few new species of tree frogs and it has been a very exciting time for us. _

_Rose - that little sketch you sent was very well written. Expand it more and add a few more characters! You never know what will come of it. Also, is your brother near you? I'm looking for an assistant this summer to go study the migration of the magical Bungee-Met frogs from Sweden to Morocco and Hugo would be perfect person. Ask him and let me know in your letter back, I'll write a formal letter of offer to present to him detailing all the important information if he's interested._

_Aziza - I love all the drawings you send. They are magnificent and I do believe you are very talented!_

_Pippa - I'm glad you are not letting prefects boss you around. I was one and happen to know that sometimes we get rather full of ourselves! I can't wait to hear about more of your adventures._

_It's hard to believe you lot are in sixth year now and that Denika and I have been out of Hogwarts for equally as long. I'm excited to hear what your plans are after school is done. _

_As always, take care._

_Kahil_

"So. . . Do we show Pippa?"

"Would she care?"

Rose sighed loudly. "I just don't know."

Rose had every intention of going to find Pippa to try to have a serious talk with her. But the next day when she saw Pippa with a few older Ravenclaws, she chickened out and ducked into the library. She told herself she would talk to Pippa when she wasn't surrounded by people.

Secretly she knew Pippa was still _her_ friend, and she didn't want to lose her like Aziza had.

Not suprisingly, Al and Josef were studying at a table when she wandered deeper into the book labyrinth. She pulled out the chair and sat across from them, not saying anything and putting her head down on the table.

"Just start talking," Al eventually said. "We're here to listen."

Rose picked her head up off the table and was surprised to find that her eyes were wet.

"I'm kind of worried about Pippa," Rose said, wiping at her eyes. "She's completely lost it. She's just told Aziza she no longer wants to be friends with her. _How_ do you say that to someone you've been best friends with since First Year! I'm worried she's going to do something dangerous soon and really harm herself."

"She's always been reckless," pointed out Al. "Never really listens to anybody but herself."

"I know. But I can't really stop her from anything. I mean, when we were younger - it was just fun stuff that we did. Harmless. But it's not the same anymore. I've attempted half-heatedly talking to her in the past few months, but she brushes past it, ignores it, or gets mad! I don't know what to do! Aziza has been trying more than I have to help her, but it just tore apart their friendship and now I'm stuck in the middle."

"Have you tried recently to have a conversation with her?"

Rose was troubled. "I'm supposed to. But I chickened out and found you guys instead. . . I'm afraid that if I do say something Pippa will get mad at me and throw me to the curb, for good. And that's such a selfish thought because I don't want to lose her friendship! And I think she might go completely off the radar and do something outright stupid if we get into a fight. I don't trust the new friends of hers. At least I'm somewhat of an anchor to normalcy. Unless I'm imagining that. . . Maybe she doesn't even like me but I just haven't pissed her off enough yet to completely ditch me."

Josef was studying her intently; she felt like he was looking at her under a microscope.

Al grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Pippa does care even if she doesn't show it. You're in a tough position because you've been friends for so long. Always remember that Pippa's going to have to learn when to stop herself. She keeps pushing and pushing at the limits, waiting for someone to react and tell her no. She thrives off of people telling her she can't do anything because she goes out and does it."

"It's a path to self-destruction," Josef commented. "Sometimes there's nothing you can do to help someone when they can't even help themselves."

"I'm scared for her. And I'm scared for me and Aziza because we're the only ones who care about her wellbeing. How can we not do anything about it?"

Al and Josef traded looks and looked sympathetically at Rose.

"I just hope when the time comes you'll be able to make the right decision. Even if it's not the easiest."

* * *

Rose thought she would have a few days before they had a big talk, but Pippa cornered her the next morning and asked if she wanted to go for a walk. Rose was totally blindsided when Pippa started the conversation with a topic about boys.

"Who do you think the hottest boy in our year is?" asked Pippa as the two walked around the school. It was a rare event now that Pippa and Rose hung out alone. At the forefront of Rose's mind were all the things she knew she should saw. Nothing was coming out. _Let's just see what she says. . . _

Rose shrugged. There was a name that came to mind but she would never voice it out loud.

"I've been seriously thinking about this the past few days. It's Nolan."

Rose gagged a little in her mouth. That wasn't who she was thinking of. "No."

"I know you don't like him, but that doesn't mean he's not attractive."

"No."

"Come on Rose. See some sense. He's got that gorgeous golden hair and is tall and _so_ fit."

"Pippa. His attitude and demeanour are atrocious. He's the ugliest most foul-worthy person to me because he is cruel on the inside. His attitude completely ruins whatever looks he supposedly has."

"You're being rather rude right now."

"No, I'm being honest." What happened to Pippa hexing him for fun? How did he turn into the hottest boy in school; she never used to like him and used to be one of the people who saw who he actually was.

"Well it just so happens he has asked me out. We're going out on Friday night."

Rose stared at her in horror and took a step away from her. "What?" she said with a low voice. "Tell me you're joking. He's not a good person and will hurt you."

"Oh live a little Rose. You've never even kissed a boy."

"You have?" she exclaimed.

"I might have kissed more than one. . . " Pippa said slyly with a wink. Usually her eyes were filled with mischievous fun, but now her eyes looked lifeless. There was no happy crinkle in the corners.

"Not Nolan. . _. Please_."

"No, they were older. Very friendly too. I'm going on this date with Nolan though. He's gorgeous. And that's all I've talked about with the other girls I hang out with. They're envious of me."

Rose was almost shaking at the thought of Pippa going out with Nolan. It would not end well. She couldn't let it happen and so Rose found herself standing up to Pippa a lot sooner than she anticipated. It was the most difficult thing she ever said.

"You're not going near him. I won't allow it. He's not a good person."

Pippa gave a rather fake laugh and looked at Rose disbelievingly. "You're joking right? You're trying to tell me what to do?"

"I'm saying this is my limit. We're friends Pippa and I'm hoping you value our friendship enough to keep it because I can't take it anymore. I'm not trying to hinder you, but you have got to see the reason here!"

"_Excuse me_? Is that a threat? You would drop six years of friendship because I'm going out with a boy you don't like. How petty is that?"

Rose had never been more serious in her life. She couldn't just stand by and let Pippa date Nolan. She couldn't. The two were standing face to face and Rose brought her finger up to point. "_You_ would be the one dropping the friendship if you go out with him. I'm telling you right now to not do it or you will lose me as a friend. Please don't."

"What if I went out with Scorpius? He's a Slytherin, like _Nolan_. _Nolan_'s friend. Really close to _Nolan_ in the looks department. Would you have such a big problem with that, huh? _Weasley_?"

It was like Pippa was stabbing a knife into her heart. She felt each stab of her sentences like it was happening real time. Rose's mouth dropped and she was angry. Pippa didn't understand anything.

Pippa shrugged. "I thought you knew me better. Thanks for nothing."

* * *

The large potted geraniums looked so innocent sitting in the pots. They were pink, purple, blue, and red in their petals and all had a large black centre on a very thick stem. It wasn't just the black center you had to worry about, it was everything.

"Alright class," said Professor Longbottom to his sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. "Today we are going to be collecting the Grasshoppers for the Third Years potions classes. These carnivorous geraniums have been sitting in the middle of the Forbidden Forest for the past month. Their diet consists of both Igmap and Gravely Grasshoppers. Hopefully we'll find numerous of each inside each plant."

"_Inside_ each plant!" exclaimed Pippa in a whisper. "What does that mean?"

Each bench contained three people and by some horrible coincidence Pippa was late to class and the only available spot was with Rose and Scorpius. At first, Rose thought Pippa was going to completely ignore them, but she did the opposite. She gave Scorpius sheep eyes and shuffled closer to him, touching their legs and shoulders together, looking at Rose and daring her to say something. Scorpius shot Rose a confused look before he moved away from her a little bit and started listening to the Professor's speech, not averting his eyes away. Pippa moved closer so she was touching him again.

"He'll explain. Shh!" Rose said rather curtly.

"These geraniums are very sensitive so make sure there is no fast movement around them. When you insert a hand inside the geranium it is imperative that you go slow. Understood? If you go too quickly the geranium will chomp down on your hand. They have hundreds of cellulose hardened teeth that contain a sleeper on the ends. If they bite down, those teeth will be released into your arm and you will fall down, asleep, until someone can pick each and every tooth out. If that happens today, there's a chance you will spend a few hours knocked out in the hospital wing today before every tooth is out."

"Holy Medusa!" said Pippa. A few girls farther down the bench gave some giggles. Professor Longbottom put his finger to his lips at her.

"So I repeat. _Go slow around them_. Because this plant is very particular, no gloves can be worn. The smaller your hands are, the easier a time you will have. Hopefully you've read the required reading and can get started with the grasshoppers. I've only had four students in my eleven years of teaching get bitten. Don't let this class be the worst one. Go!"

Pippa eyed up Rose and Scorpius. "Just because I have the smallest hands doesn't mean I'm sticking them in there. No. No way, nuh uh."

The professor heard her remark and stated over the noise, "everyone has to try it _once_."

Pippa, Rose and Scorpius all stared at each other. Actually, no groups immediately stuck their hands inside the plant; everyone was looking at the flower in trepidation.

Rose took a deep breath. "Well. . . I guess I'll go first." The sooner she did it, the sooner it would be over.

"I'm not touching the plant," Pippa said stubbornly. She put her head on Scorpius's shoulder and wrapped her arm around his. He jumped at the contact and looked from Pippa to Rose with a confused face. "_What is she doing_?" he mouthed to her. Rose shrugged. She had no idea. If this was supposed to make her feel extremely uncomfortable it was working. She couldn't imagine what Scorpius was feeling. He tried to budge over but Pippa stayed stuck to him.

Rose drew her hand near the black centre a few times before she got brave enough to slowly sink a hand in. As her hand descended she could feel the prickly teeth against her hand and concentrated on going very slow. It almost felt like a very fine-toothed comb was running over her hands, a _slimy_ fine-tooth comb. She paused halfway down when she realised something. "The grasshoppers. They're dead right?"

Scorpius's eyes popped out of his head and one of the Slytherin boys near Rose whose hand was halfway down the plant started whimpering.

Students started complaining to Professor Longbottom because they didn't want to touch grasshoppers.

Rose saw Neville throw his hands up in the air with all the negativity. She felt bad at the undesirable response from the class and so she reached inside and scooped a couple of the squirming insects.

"They're just grasshoppers. . . grasshoppers. . . Only. . . " She could feel their feet squirming around on her hand and couldn't help but envision spiders. She closed her eyes and continued pulling out of the flower slowly. She felt really faint and kept muttering _'grasshoppers_' in her head to get the image of spiders out of her head. Scorpius was holding the bag away from her body as Rose put the three insects she collected in it.

"Ok I have to sit down for a second," Rose muttered and dropped to the ground where she put her head between her knees.

"That's all you have to do class," said Professor Longbottom, thoroughly exasperated by this point. "Just reach in once to get grasshoppers. Even if it's only one! That's an automatic pass"

Scorpius jumped at the opportunity to go next to escape Pippa. She didn't let him go so easily. "You're so brave," she murmured as she rubbed his arm.

Rose lightly kicked Pippa in the shins and hissed at her. "Stop it! You're making everyone uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable." She pet Rose's check with her hand. That silenced Rose and she put her head back down between her legs as a bout of nausea came forth again. Pippa moved to stand by Scorpius.

"Man down, man down!" They heard some Gryffindors yell. One of the boys was unconscious on the ground. Professor Longbottom was rubbing his temple.

"Start picking the black teeth out of his arm," he told the group as he handed over a pair of forceps. "We'll bring him to the hospital wing after class." Rose could tell by the atmosphere in the Greenhouse that more people were going to end up going. It was a sickly, nervous, heavy atmosphere.

After the nausea passed, Rose lifted her head and watched Scorpius as he stuck his hand in the flower. She could hear him muttering, "plants aren't that temperamental. Plants aren't that temperamental. . . " Pippa kept looking at her and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Rose's face slowly turned red. She _hated_ how Pippa was acting.

As soon as Scorpius reached the bottom she could see him start breathing quicker. It was hard to blindly trust that it was grasshoppers in the flower when you couldn't actually see them. With her eyes on Rose, Pippa ran her hand up his back slowly and seductively. Scorpius jumped at the contact and jerked away from her, pulling his arm out of the plant to gain more distance. He put his forearm near his face and looked at the imbedded teeth in surprise, slowly sinking to the floor, asleep.

Pippa started laughing. "Professor Longbottom! Malfoy seems to have gotten himself into a situation."

Longbottom came towards them with forceps and an exasperated look. "This is already the worst class in years for this assignment. Start picking out the black teeth in Scorpius's arm, Rose, and Pippa, get your grasshoppers. I'm watching."

He gave her a serious look before he had to run away to another fallen student.

Rose got off the ground and moved to Scorpius. She gently pulled his arm onto her lap as she stared in wonder at all the black dots that littered his forearm. Could one plant have that many teeth? It was going to suck pulling each and every one of them out. She leaned in closer to see and pulled one up. Only a few millimetres were showing above the skin, but the tooth was almost one centimetre in length.

She threw the 'tooth' in the rubbish bin and started picking the next one out. She looked up and Pippa was staring at her, looking almost sad.

"This is the stupidest class in the school. What a waste of my time." Pippa told Rose as she shook her head. She turned to the geranium. Her face softened for once and Rose saw some vulnerability shine through.

"Malfoy has the right idea," she said unhappily and then plunged her hand into the plant.

Rose couldn't do much else except stare, shocked, as Pippa fell to the ground with black teeth embedded in her arm.

* * *

"I need the cloak."

Lily looked up at Rose, noticing the red eyes and wild long hair. "I think Hugo has it now. Either him or Al," she said without hesitation or questioning why Rose needed it. Rose said thanks and went off in search of her brother who ended her goose chase before it really started and gave her the cloak.

On Friday evening she lied and told Aziza she was going to bed early. Where she actually went was the Slytherin Common Room under the cover of invisibility.

Pippa came in about an hour later and went up to her dorm room to start getting ready for her date. Rose stretched out her cramped up legs and followed her, slipping in before the door was shut. She was very conscious of her feet and made sure they were covered well.

There were two other Slytherin girls in the room. One of them was reading on her bed and the other was digging through her trunk. Rose stood patiently by the wall, waiting and listening.

". . . I know it's here somewhere," one of the girls said to Pippa as she looked through her trunk. "Ah-ha!" Out came a bottle of firewhisky.

"You're such a doll."

"I'm so jealous you're going out with Nolan. He certainly knows how to give a girl a good time." The girl winked at Pippa. Pippa wryly smiled and refocused her attention on some bright red lipstick. The three started passing the firewhisky around.

Rose felt sick to her stomach. And honestly didn't know what to do with herself while Pippa got ready because she couldn't watch. Pippa was plastering on so much makeup and she never wore makeup. Ever. It was like someone took Pippa's body and inserted a different girl. More crude comments were made about Nolan and Pippa was laughing and joking around, even making crude and suggestive comments about her own body.

After she finished getting ready, Pippa sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. Her skirt barely covered her. "I've heard a few different _rumours_ about Nolan." She sounded slightly nervous.

The firewhisky was thrust into her hands and Pippa took another drink in lieu of finishing her sentence. "Don't worry about any of that. We're going to head out," one of the girls said. "We'll meet you tomorrow morning to hear all about it. . . Just remember. . . Nolan is fucking gorgeous. Don't ruin things. He's your chance in."

The two girls walked out of the common room, holding in laughs that only Rose could see.

". . . so easy. She's such a loser," she heard them whisper as they were just outside the door. When the door closed, Rose locked it with her almost mastered non-verbal spell.

Pippa was sitting dejectedly on the bed, staring straight ahead and fiddling with a piece of hair. At that moment, she looked like the loneliest girl at Hogwarts.

Rose took a big breath and pulled off the invisibility cloak. "Pippa," she started. Instantly Pippa shot upwards and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she said, none too pleased to see Rose. Rose noticed her pull down her skirt a few inches. "Get out. I don't want you here."

"Pippa those girls don't care about you," she pleaded. "They're using you and are laughing about you right now behind your back."

"You know what Rose, you're wrong. They do care about me. When's the last time you came out with me on the weekend? They introduce me to people, they have fun, and they watch my back. That's more than I can say about you. . ."

Rose gaped. "Excuse me! I'm here because I care. Pippa this isn't you. _They_ don't know who you are and are letting you destroy yourself. You're going to get hurt."

Pippa laughed and laughed and then lifted up the firewhisky bottle and chugged a few mouthfuls. "This isn't me? You have no bloody clue who I actually am. And if I want to date Nolan, well you doubting me just proves that point."

"He's a bully and treats people like rubbish. Pippa, you are so much better than him. Don't let outside appearances be enough. You need someone who's good on the inside."

Pippa walked right up to Rose. "I think someone is a little jealous. Now_ move_. I have a date."

"No!" Wasn't Pippa listening? How else could she explain!

"Oh, like you can stop me! I'm SO scared of a twiggy ginger NOBODY!" Pippa reached out and pushed Rose roughly. "_Get out of the way_."

Rose fell back but still stood in front of the doorway, blocking Pippa's path. She clenched her fists, aware of the wand that was a few inches away. . .

"Pippa he's going to hurt you if you go near him! How can't you see that! Do you know what I think? I think you're scared. I think you're terrified of letting in the people that actually love you because we'd try and stop you. And I'm not letting you hurt yourself more for acceptance or whatever other ludicrous reason you have for all this."

Pippa looked furious. "Don't you DARE, _EVER_, interfere in my life." Pippa quickly raised a hand and slapped Rose across the face. They both were stunned at what just happened - Pippa looked at her hand in shock and Rose was holding her cheek. A few tears escaped her eyes, even though the slap didn't really hurt. It was more the realisation that it was her best friend that just hit her that caused those tears to fall.

"Well, move!" Pippa exclaimed in a loud voice that was higher than normal. She avoided Rose's eyes.

"I'm sorry Pippa. Don't hate me," Rose said softly before Pippa started pushing her again. This was her last option and she knew it was going to have disastrous consequences. She pulled out her wand. "_Petrificus Totalus_."

Pippa fell down frozen with a surprised look stuck on her face.

Rose rubbed her cheek. Pippa was going to be absolutely without a doubt livid later. So mad in fact, that Rose was quite sure she would never be forgiven.

She dragged her friend over to her bed, lifted her in, and put the blankets over her. She then took the firewhisky bottle and dumped the rest of the alcohol down the sink.

"I know you can hear me Pippa. And I'm sorry it came to this. I can't just stand by and do nothing because this is ridiculous. I don't understand why everything is changing so much. I mean, we're friends, right? It's supposed to be a give and take relationship - so shouldn't my advice mean anything at all? . . . I feel like you have a lot of secrets right now that I don't know about and I'm sorry that this has been building and we haven't done anything. . . Maybe we should have tried talking. . . Maybe then we wouldn't have come to this. Please stop scaring me. Us. If you never talk to me again I'll understand."

She pulled the invisibility cloak back over her and went over to the Sixth Year boys dorm for the second part of her plan. She wished stopping Pippa would be enough, but for Nolan not to scout her out she needed to get him where it hurt: his pride.

With her ear against the door she could hear movement and shuffling around from a few bodies.

"Of course she will. I'm a God, aren't I," said a voice that was definitely Nolan.

There was laughter from the room.

"Where are you taking her?"

"Probably a broom cupboard. That's all the bitch deserves. She's fucking nuts. She'd probably spread her legs at the Headmistress's desk she's so easy."

"You're vile," Rose mouthed in horror at the door and then left to wait in the common room so she didn't have to hear any other abhorrent words come from his mouth.

Nolan emerged with all his friends, except Scorpius, about ten mintues later. His friends patted him on the back as they passed by to leave. Nolan sat on the back of the couch and started waiting for Pippa.

Rose took a deep breath, readied her wand, and took off the invisibility cloak.

"She's not coming you know." Rose said loudly from behind Nolan. He jerked around at her voice. She stood non-threateningly, with her hands clasped behind her back. Her hair hung around her face and she had worn plain muggle clothes to set herself even more apart from him.

"Good try Weasley. I won't be stood up and she knows it," he spat at her

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "She's not coming. I'm the messenger because she honestly didn't want to see your ugly face tonight. Jokes on _you_."

Nolan looked around, unsure what to believe.

"If you ever ask her out again she'll hex your face off. Then Aziza and I will go after you too. You're an asshole and nobody wants to date you. I don't know why you thought Pippa would_ actually_ go out with you. You're not a prize at all. Have fun explaining why you got rejected to your friends. . . "

Nolan looked up at the Slytherin girls dormitory and back at Rose a few times, mouth opening and closing.

"Fuck you Weasley. Nobody likes you. Go drown yourself."

He stormed out of the room and as soon as he was gone Rose breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that was all the end of that. She sank down in the armchair and just stared blankly at the wall. She wasn't really thinking of anything specific, but somehow she found herself getting up and walking up to the Sixth Year dorms. There was a small chance. . . and she pushed open the door.

Rose was in luck. Scorpius was lying on his bed and holding a pillow over his head. The lamp she bought him for Christmas was lit on his bedside table and robes, a hat, socks, and pyjamas were flung all around him. But he was alone. She let herself in and very quietly closed the door behind her, sneaking across the room to stand beside him.

He didn't appear to be moving at all and Rose was just thinking how creepy the cloak was. . . Hopefully her cousins didn't sneak around in peoples dorms.

She didn't know how to notify him to her presence; obviously whatever she did would scare the bajeebers out of him since she snuck in. She thought if she just reached out and nudged him it wouldn't be too bad. However as soon as her hand touched his leg, he reacted.

Scorpius pushed the pillow off his face with a yell and tumbled off the bed, rolling away from her. He immediately jumped up and held his wand out, looking wildly around him. His hair was sticking up in all directions.

Under different circumstances Rous would have laughed her head off. But right now, she gave a weak smile as she took off the invisibility cloak and stood by his bed.

He looked relieved when he saw it was her and also looked in wonder at the cloak.

Then a dark look came across his face and he crossed the bed to grab her arm.

"Rose! You have to go stop Nolan. He's on a date with Pippa right now and - and -"

Rose started nodding. "I know. Pippa's stunned in her dorm room and Nolan is off being angry somewhere in the castle because Pippa supposedly blew him off."

"Thank goodness," mumbled Scorpius. Rose fidgeted on the spot a bit nervously. She wasn't sure why she came here when she easily could have gone back to the Gryffindor Common Room to dwell in her dark mood alone.

Scorpius turned his gaze away from her towards the cloak that was by her feet.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?"

Rose looked at him in surprise. "I thought you'd know about it. Al uses it all the time."

"Ohhh!" Scorpius's eyes widened and his fingers started knotting themselves. "Rigghht. Never mind I knew that. I'm just so used to - _wearing_ it, that I didn't think of what the outside looked like. . . "

Rose raised her eyebrows. "I've never really had reason to borrow it before, but it is handy."

Scorpius nodded and then noticed the state of his bed. He widened his eyes and pushed everything off, blankets included, to the opposite side of the bed before he patted the cleaned off area to indicate her to sit down. Rose sat down on his bed, leaning against his headboard and stared towards the entrance. She twisted her fingers together.

He sat down beside her, putting his hands on his knees. He felt so far away. "Are you okay?" he said softly, sensing her mood.

Either because she was feeling vulnerable and sad or because she just needed someone else there, Rose shifted closer to them so they were touching and put her head on his shoulder. He took in a sharp intake of breath and slowly and clumsily wrapped his arm around her.

"Pippa's going to hate me now. I think I might have ruined our friendship for good."

"She has to see sense. . . Nolan isn't a good person."

"No. She doesn't see him the same way we do. I think I leaped past an acceptable boundary with her. I just don't want her to get hurt and finally I did something about it. It might have been a bit drastic."

Scorpius rubbed her shoulder consolingly and reached out with his other hand to grab hers. Her neck started heating up and she kept her gaze downwards, watching his hand run over hers. He had large, comfortable hands. It felt soothing as his fingers went up and down her hand, and then her arm. She had shooting tingles everywhere. Rose just closed her eyes.

"I think you're incredibly brave, Rose."

"I don't think so," she whispered. "I let this get too far. Pippa has been acting abnormal all year and instead of dealing with it, I've ignored it, hoping she'd stop acting out. I'm a horrible friend."

If only she didn't agree with everything Pippa said. No matter how much she joked, or pretended not to like something, Rose had never said no. Why couldn't she have told Pippa that was she was doing was wrong and hurtful for herself? There had to be something she could have done differently. . . Something._ Anything._

"Rose, you're a great friend. You actually stood up to her and did the right thing to protect her. It takes a lot of courage. And it's hard. _I_ still haven't done it. . . There will be a time when Pippa will appreciate what you did. It just might not happen for awhile."

Rose sighed. Her legs were stretched out by his and she wanted to wind them together, be as close as possible. She didn't have the nerve for that and so just played at the leg of his trousers with her foot. "I just want everything back the way it was. . . Before we grew up and everything got so complicated."

He squeezed her and Rose stayed in his embrace for a long time. The two sat in silence. Scorpius's breathing gradually slowed down and her blush faded and she felt so_ right_ being there.

"I better get going," Rose eventually said. She would fall asleep if she remained there much longer. She lifted her head from his shoulder and moved away from him and his warm embrace. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything, really," he told her as he stretched and got off the bed too. He rubbed his eyes and looked as if he had been sleeping.

"Yes you did." She started walking away and then felt a tug on her hand that sent her spinning back around -

She was pulled close and Scorpius softly kissed her cheek.

"I'll always be here if you ever need it."

Rose walked out half in a daze with her fingers touching her cheek and a smile on her face that fell off as she reached the common room and looked towards the girls dorm to where Pippa lay, stunned.

Such a bittersweet day.

* * *

Nolan took his revenge a few days later.

Rose was meandering around the hallways, her toads hopping somewhere on this floor, or behind her, or outside. Actually they might have just stayed in the library. She wasn't too sure for she wasn't paying attention to anything around her. She was tired and just needed to stretch her legs and neck before she went back to homework.

Because she wasn't paying attention, she didn't hear anyone sneak up behind her. All she registered was that her shirt was lifted away from her neck and before she turned around, something was dropped in. She felt movement from whatever _it_ was, and then it started crawling.

There was one brief moment of clarity as she made the connection between movement and spider, and then she was screaming.

She dropped to the floor and started rolling as her screams got louder and louder. Frantically she pulled her shirt from her skin and was trying to pull it off, no regards for whoever was around her or that she was in the middle of a hallway. She was kicking and rolling and clawing at the shirt, and hair was in her eyes and mouth and caught on a button. She was oblivious to everything.

Her screams turned to panicked sobs and she continued to roll because she didn't know where the spider was and she just hoped it was off of her. Even if it was dead, it needed _to get off_.

Her shirt eventually came off - but only by her completely ripping the top few buttons off so she could squeeze her head out. She flung it far away and stood up quickly, backing up against the wall. Oh _her hair_, what if it was in her hair!

Rose was breathing heavy, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and her face was absolutely soaked by tears. The only thing that kept her in her spot was the malicious laughter she heard.

She didn't even register movement, but the next thing she knew was that she was in front of Nolan and her arm was swinging back, just like Pippa taught her a few years ago –

Then she punched him in the face, hard. He was taller than her, but not Scorpius taller than her. Only by the barest amount. He gave a cry of rage and his hands went to his face as he started cursing at her.

"What is your problem!" she cried, ignoring his curses. "_Stop being such a pig-headed yak and start acting like a human being_! Who cares that you were turned down and I hurt your ginormous fake ego. Who cares that Pippa hates your guts and I was the messenger! _Move on_!"

Rose stood angrily in front of him, her shirt still lying on the ground by the wall. Her hand was throbbing and her knuckles were throbbing; a few fingers might have dislocated. It was chilly standing in the hallway as her temper cooled down.

"Pippa told about your fear," he said cruelly. "Pippa told Amelia who told me. A great friend she is, right?"

Rose felt her heart crumple. She couldn't believe that. She couldn't. And yet. . . She really didn't want to think of it.

"Don't ever come near me again," she said quietly. She turned on her heels, picked up her shirt, and went to the nearest ladies room to clean up. Her hair was an absolute mess, her face was, her hand, her shirt, and her heart. Only a few of those could be fixed.

When she eventually returned to the library, Al who she was studying with, looked up at her.

"That took awhile," he commented. "Did a few laps around the castle?"

Rose opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"No. You know what Al, I'm sorry, but I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

She didn't offer any other explanation and hid her hurt hand from him.

* * *

Rose was by no means surprised that Pippa completely ignored Rose from then on. And even if Pippa would have talked to her, Rose didn't know how she could have said anything to her. She was hurt, and felt betrayed, and that was probably exactly what Pippa reciprocated.

It was the same as when Nolan taunted her at Hogsmeade, Rose didn't tell anyone the newest encounter. She felt like she should handle him on her own.

"I just don't know if I did the right thing," she told her toads when she was lying in bed with the curtains pulled tight around her and a silencing charm on. "About anything. Maybe it's me who's at fault and I overstepped too many boundaries. And by _jinxing her._" Rose put her hands to head and just groaned.

"It's my fault for everything. Why did I jinx her? Why couldn't I have just told her what I heard and what Nolan did? She would have seen reason. . . Right? I mean, why didn't I go to a Professor? Maybe they would have handled it - or, or maybe not._ I just don't know_. I think I've just done everything so backwards and wrong and now lost a friend as a result of it. But!" she held up a finger to Matilda, as if scolding her. "She still didn't have to tell about the spiders. Even though we aren't friends at the moment, she didn't have to give up my secret. Isn't that some sort of code that everyone follows – that even if you fall out with a friend, you keep their secrets? If the roles were reversed, I'd keep her secret. It's just. . . _Nolan. . . _Anyone but him. Anyone but him."

She threw her hands up. "And it's not like she told Nolan. She told Amelia, apparently. Which should make me not as mad at her, but it does. Because that means other people know too. She's a huge gossip. Pippa is _killing_ me right now. . . "

As per usual, her toads stared unblinkingly back, Guacamole's vocal sac going in and out.

"And of course you guys don't answer back. You're toads. And I'm just the crazy toad girl who talks to you." She pushed her toads off of her, rolled over to her stomach and picked up where she left off in her latest playbook, _Hippogriffs on Friday _by Doneld Wjestin.

_Oh woo is you and woo is who and together we can be blue. _

* * *

Pippa didn't look at her and Aziza, didn't sit by them. Didn't do anything that involved them. If they entered a room she was in, she usually left. She didn't go to many classes she shared with them, and if she did she sat way at the opposite end of the room. She stopped going to Quidditch games and sat at her own table for meals.

That caused quite a stir in the school for Rose was still a Weasley, even if not right up there in the social radar. Pippa started hanging with the Seventh Years in the school and was skipping classes, drinking more often, and talking back to prefects and teachers all the time now. Another reason they didn't see much of her was because she was in detentions or disciplinary meetings most of the time. She didn't go near Nolan though, and he stayed away from her, believing what Rose said. Rose tried to tell herself that was enough.

But it really wasn't. She missed Pippa.

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_Literature referenced, roman numerals are (act, scene, line):_

Hippogriffs on Friday, (V. III. XV) (1992) - Doneld Wjestin


	5. Act IV: Catharsis

******WARNING: Harsh language and sensitive themes present below (_Fo realz_)**

* * *

**ACT IV - _CATHARSIS_**

_(Sixth Year, Part ii)_

* * *

"Hufflepuff is actually playing rather well this year," commented Hugo as he brushed his ruddy curls out of his eyes. Two Hufflepuff chasers whipped by at that moment in front of the Gryffindor stands, tossing the quaffle back and forth. Rose couldn't help but nod at her brother as her eyes were riveted on the game.

The game was Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor, and the stands were absolutely packed. Rose was sitting with her regular group of Quidditch goers: Hugo, a few of Hugo's friends, and the younger trio – Paul, Stella, and Alfie. There were a few absent, Lily being the most notable one for she was actually playing. "They are really playing together as a team so far this year. There have been some improvements."

"Yeah. Azzy has noticeably gotten a lot better from last year," Rose said as Hufflepuff scored a goal. She cheered even though she was in Gryffindor territory. A few other people did clap along with her, though it was muffled claps for everyone was wearing gloves on the winter day. All the students were accustomed to her cheering for Hufflepuff and didn't raise as much of a fuss anymore.

Paul looked wistfully back at Rose, his tuque almost falling over his eyes. "Rose. I bet you a chocolate frog that one of the Hufflepuff beaters is going to hit the bludger at his own player."

Rose couldn't help but smile. "Paul I didn't bring any chocolate frogs with me. I'm sorry. I'm not much of a gambler."

Paul looked disappointed. "Alright. . . I gueesss," he said reluctantly. She knew who he really wanted to bet with, and she was keeping her far distance. Paul didn't know the whole story about what happened but it had been a month since they stopped talking and he had heard rumour. He knew well enough to leave the subject alone though. "Stella, willing to take the bet?"

"Sure. Let's up it to two chocolate frogs though."

"Deal," he grinned. They shook hands.

The Quaffle quickly made it back into the Hufflepuff territory. Rose exhaled heavily at that moment, fogged up her vision because her breath froze in the air right ahead of her and missed the goal Aziza let in.

"Good try Azzy," Rose called out. Her heart wasn't really into this game, and Aziza's wasn't either. But Aziza couldn't bow out as a Keeper so neither would she as a spectator. It was hard on them to be scrutinized and talked about in reference to Pippa. It was like the whole school was watching their every move. Rose felt more like brooding and being alone, out of eyesight.

"Can I take Matilda and after this game?" asked Hugo. His own toad was sitting inside his coat tucked away from the freezing air.

"Sure." Rose leaned back in the seat and crossed her legs. They extended between Alfie and Stella, and Stella used her foot as an armrest. No more knees in the back for them.

"Thanks," Hugo said brightly. "Kahil gave me a potion recipe for Matilda's cold. I asked Professor Mercator if I could brew it and he said yes. But it needs to be given over three days."

"Hugo you can take her for a few days," Rose said sincerely. "I mean, she isn't as spry as she once was and they both seem to like sitting in front of the fire more and more, especially in the winter. She isn't going to be hopping away to find me."

The students in the Gryffindor stands abruptly stood up in and started screaming, cheering, and jumping in celebration. Rose and Hugo stayed in their seats and blinked in surprise at all the commotion around them as they missed what just happened.

"Awesome catch Lily!" everyone was shouting. "We've won! We've won! _Gryffindors are the best_!" They started chanting as they cleared the area.

"Tough luck Rose!" said Stella as Paul handed her two chocolate frogs. The three stood up and followed the crowd out. "Tell Aziza that it was a good game though."

Rose nodded and said she would.

"Look away for a few minutes and miss the most important play of the game," Hugo muttered. "Lily's going to hound me about it later when she asks for advice on where to improve. But I'm going to collect Matilda and start brewing. See you later! And tell Azzy to work on her right side a bit more, it's not as strong as the left."

He left her alone on the stands as he joined the trickled out crowd, departing with three of his friends. She watched his tall form walk away and felt proud of her brother who wasn't afraid to be himself and let his passion show.

It wasn't too long before she was finally alone in the face of an empty pitch. She could hear all the cheering in the background, almost like a soft chant, as everyone walked up the hill to the castle. She hugged her arms close to her to keep warm and looked out in the white wintery landscape. It was silence and she shut her eyes to let the cold encompass her. She called herself ten types of foolish for the year. For being a horrible friend. For wishing she was different.

The weather seemed to get colder the longer she sat and she wasn't able to get completely lost in her thoughts as she started shivering. She didn't last long before she made the trek back to the castle.

* * *

Aziza and Rose headed to Hogsmeade early in the morning with a goal. They were going to finally get their hair cut. The hopped in a carriage with Stella who decided to accompany them last minute when she realised Paul and Alfie left even earlier to be first in line for the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes newest product opening. They didn't walk like they usually did because a huge blizzard was in duration at the moment and visibility was very poor.

The hair salon, called The Lemonslice, was on the main street, about six buildings past The Three Broomsticks.

"Do it, do it, do it," Aziza and Stella said as they were standing at the counter, waiting for a hairdresser.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know. It'll be a last minute decision."

Aziza waggled her eyebrows. "Wait until you see what I'm going to do." Her hair was the longest it had ever been since Rose knew her and it was only at her shoulders. It was in a perpetual ponytail since neither of them could braid hair very well.

"Either tell us or stop bloody hinting at it."

Stella grinned at Rose's expression. "I'm going to pick up some breakfast and will probably be back before you lot are done. If not, I shall be at Les Trois Broomsticks with Les Deux Idiotes who are supposed to meet up with me in fifteen minutes! They will probably be late though. Like always. They're probably lost in the store."

She sighed exasperatedly before bowing out of the salon.

It only took a few more moments for a lady with fuchsia coloured hair to approach them and take them to their seats.

"So what are you thinking," the hairdresser asked as she started running her fingers through Rose's hair.

"Nine inches off," Rose said quickly before she could chicken out. Aziza gave her a thumbs up. Rose's hair was almost all the way to her bottom and it was taking too much maintenance for her liking.

"Would you like to make it one more inch and I'll donate your hair."

A whole inch! ". . . One more inch. Not a big deal. What's it for?"

"It's to a place that makes wigs for muggles who have lost their hair. They're always looking and your colouring is brilliant. Have you ever cut this much off before?"

"Never. But I should because I don't like it when it's _this_ long." The hairdresser put her hair in a loose ponytail.

"Well when it grows out again, come back! Or another salon if you're not near Hogsmeade. Any hair salon can take the hair and donate; however, you won't find many wizarding ones that collect for muggles. So if they don't you can keep your cut hair and bring it back here. We'll always take it."

Without any warning, her hair was cut off. Ten inches in all.

It was rather anti-climatic.

"It's so short now!" exclaimed Rose. And very light. She turned her head quickly to the side and it flung out, for the first time in a long time. It was a few inches below her shoulders. It felt so different.

She wasn't paying attention to Aziza as her hair was washed and the ends cut more evenly. The hairdresser was chatty and kept Rose occupied, so after her hair was done and she looked over, she couldn't stop her jaw from dropping.

Aziza had no hair.

Like none.

Nothing. Nada. Rien

"You can lift your chin up now," Aziza said with a laugh. "I'm trying something new. You and I can't braid my hair to keep it controlled, so I'll try this hairstyle out."

"I mean you can definitely pull it off! It looks so good! It's just – you have no hair! . . . Your head's going to be cold for the rest of winter."

If anybody could look great with no hair, it was Aziza. It showed her facial structure more and it honestly looked phenomenal.

"I didn't really think of the weather," she admitted. "That just means I'm going to have to wear a scarf or a tuque all the time."

After Stella returned, they all went to a clothing outfitters and bought a few fashionable pieces for Aziza to wear over her head.

It was a few days later when they noticed that someone else got a haircut as well.

Pippa was wandering all around the school with drastically different hair as well. It was short, like a bob, but very uneven. It looked like someone took hedge clippers to it and massacred it.

She didn't look like she cared either. She continued to do her thing around the school, by herself or with her 'new' friends.

* * *

Scorpius wasn't very recognisable as he stood in the entrance hall with his black scarf wrapped around his head and black tuque covering his blonde hair. Rose only found him from afar because he was trying to keep attention away from himself, afraid to be seen by his fellow housemates. It wasn't the first time he did the similar tactic of staying near the peripheries. He might have been anxious to be seen with her, but she wasn't of him. She walked right to him and asked, "are you ready?"

He grinned and Rose could only tell because his eyes twinkled; the rest of his face was covered up. "I beat you here, of course I'm ready."

After they got outside, he held out his arm. "If my lady pleases. . . ?" he said demurely.

"Of course kind sir," Rose said back just as demurely and rested her arm on his. It seemed he was in a good mood. He nudged his hip into hers playfully and the two left the great hall to head outside, having a conversation of 'after you lovely lady' and 'fine weather we're having aren't we,' and other such fancy and fun language that was out of their time.

The most recent snowfall hadn't been cleared so the trek down to the Black Lake was a struggle. There were a few footrails from Al and Josef, but nothing too trampled. Rose was sweating by the time they were halfway down the hill. She had her hair in a braid hanging not very far down her back, but the few short pieces around her face were popping out and sticking to her skin.

They could make out two dark figures on the lake, looking like they were standing around.

"Do you think Al and Josef finished?" Scorpius asked. The two boys went down a few hours earlier to clear snow off the lake so they could all go ice skating. They claimed to have found charms for clearing and melting snow and insisted they didn't need help to make a skating area. On the last Hogsmeade trip Aziza and Rose discovered a second hand shop with loads of skates for sale in the back. They bought a pair each and told the three boys to buy some too.

Today they finally found time in the day to go ice skating. Aziza would be late for she was at Quidditch practice, but she said she would join once she was finished. It was a brilliant day to be outside; the sun was shining and reflecting light off the untouched snow that blanketed the Earth; trees were frosted over with snow piled high on the boughs; and there was the barest breeze blowing from the North. Winter kept most students inside and because the Black Lake was half sheltered from the castle, it was a way they could all hang out without judgement from others.

They were watching the figures of Al and Josef on the Black Lake and weren't paying attention to where they were stepping. As a result, they missed the patch of ice on the downward slope of the hill. Scorpius's legs went flying out from under him and he half dragged at Rose's arm before he let go and tumbled down the hill. He ended up near the edge of the Black Lake and was rubbing his bottom as he stood up. He immediately fell back down when a weight thumped into his legs and wiped him out. Rose was right behind him, having lost her balance when he fell. He lifted his legs off of a laughing Rose.

"Hey you found our ice slide!" Al said as he made his way over carefully.

"We didn't intend to," Rose said after Scorpius helped her up. Their clothes were covered in a thin layer of white and they brushed off. "How's the ice look? Skatable?"

"It's perfect, or at least so Josef tells me. It's in good condition for being a lake. Did you know he's a figure skater? Lessons and all?"

Rose and Scorpius looked at Josef in surprise. He was off in the distance not too far away and heard his name being called. He smiled shyly. "No way, that's awesome!"

"He's really going to show me up," said Rose. "I can't remember the last time I was skating."

"He's going to show us all up," Scorpius said. They walked over to Josef and everyone pulled their skates from the bag Al had brought down with him. "I don't think I've ever skated in my life and my arse is already sore from falling down the hill."

"I brought pillows," offered Josef. But Scorpius didn't opt to wear one, being too prideful of having a pillow tied around his bottom.

There were no seats and so they sat in the snow to lace up their skates. Josef, who obviously had way more practice with lacing up, was the first one on the ice. He skated around the perimeter a few times, varying his motions as he skated into sharp turns, backwards, and did a few cross overs. After he was warmed up, he noticed everyone staring and watching. He skated over and stopped sharply in front of Al, making snow shavings fly.

"Do we have to follow that?" Al squeaked. His knees were shaking as he sat. "I don't know how to even go forward."

Josef grabbed his hand and pulled him upwards. "Just hold on." He started skating backwards whilst pulling Al.

Rose looked at Scorpius and raised an eyebrow. "Care to drag me around?"

"Ha! Fat chance." He stood up and promptly fell down, his legs flying out from underneath him. "I'm going to have some major bruises after today," he groaned as he struggled to get back up.

Rose took the approach more slowly and carefully stood up before she pushed off with the blades. Baby steps were all she needed to do and she made it a few metres before Scorpius called her name. She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder for she lost her balance and toppled over to hit the ice.

Scorpius cracked up. Rose shook her head at him and then got up again. Without snow to act as a makeshift handhold, it was a failure and she found herself meeting the rigid ice again.

Josef was still leading Al around, but as they passed by, he came to Rose and helped her up again.

"It's so easy Rose," Al joked as his tuque fell over his eyes and he nearly fell over onto Josef. Luckily Josef held him up. Rose glared at him.

"I don't think you'd be faring so well without Josef!"

Al stuck out his tongue and grabbed Josef's hands again. "Lead me around," he ordered. Josef gave him a smile and complied.

"OK. I can do this," Rose murmured to herself. "Small steps." She spread her arms out and took one small step after the other. It was progress, but progress always came with downfalls. She managed to take a few steps before her blade got caught in a crack and she fell to the ground again. She sighed heavily. This was challenging.

She spread her legs out in front of her and sat, watching Al and Josef, and feeling envious with the ease Josef was gliding over the ice.

Scorpius crawled over to her on his hands and knees. He looked like he had been rolling in the snow now; every inch of him was covered in the small crystals. "Why did we ever think this was a good idea?" he said. "I can't do anything!"

"I can't either! I wish I could skate like Josef. Let's go separate the two and get Josef to pull us around."

"I think it'll be harder to separate them than you think. . . " muttered Scorpius, as he watched them. "Come on up, let's try again." He shakily stood up and managed to pull her up beside him.

This time, the two of them completed one slow lap around the ice surface, going very slow and steady, and not falling for the first time. Rose clung tightly onto Scorpius's arm and worked on turning her skate blade to push off with it.

The two were halfway done their second lap when they finally met the ice in person again; Rose tripped herself on her skate blades and took Scorpius with her. They landed in a heap on the ice, sitting side by side with their arms still attached.

Scorpius started rubbing his arse again as he rolled over to lie on his stomach. "How long have we been torturing ourselves? A few hours?"

"I think twenty minutes."

Scorpius groaned and put his head on the ice, trying to see through its black surface to the bottom. Rose was gazing off into the distance. Her eyes wandered to the castle, to Al and Josef, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch Pitch - and speaking of the Quidditch pitch, a figure was flying over on a broom.

"Azzy's coming!" Rose said loudly. Scorpius picked his head up and watched her descent over to where they stashed her skates.

"Oh! I have a good idea!" he exclaimed. "Wait here." He got up and shakily made his way over to Aziza - only falling twice. They were talking and then she nodded and handed her broom over to him.

Al and Josef stopped skating and were watching Scorpius too. He got on the broom and flew over to Rose, hovering not very high off the ice.

"Hold on tight," he said. His dimple was very pronounced and his enthusiasm rubbed off on Rose.

"This is crazy!" Rose said as she got up and held on to the tail of the broom. She hadn't done anything really crazy in quite some time.

Scorpius started flying slow as he led her around, making sure Rose kept her balance and could keep her feet under her body.

"Cheating!" called out Al.

"Hey! You have Josef!"

They flew/skated over to Aziza who was clearly out of her element like Rose and Scorpius and fumbling around like a newborn filly.

"Who would ever come up with the ridiculous idea of attaching sharp metal to shoes that fit too tightly and going on ice?" she moaned as she toppled over. "I don't even get snow at home. This isn't natural! Why did I think this would be fun?"

Scorpius stopped by her and Aziza grabbed hold of the broom with Rose.

She kept a close eye on her feet and steadied herself, staying upright and skating. Scorpius led them around the ice, doing loops and figure eights. "How long have you lot been out?" Aziza asked after she was able to look up.

"Maybe half an hour? We still haven't gotten the hang of it. Scorpius – there is a – " Rose couldn't finish her sentence to tell him the snow bank was right there, for he clearly saw it and turned sharply, whipping the two girls off the broom. They fell into the snow with a poof and started laughing. They were covered in the fluffy particles.

Scorpius hopped off the broom. "Who wants to fly next?"

After warning them that her flying wasn't the greatest, Rose started leading them around. She went slow and circled around Al and Josef a few times and increased her speed to see how the passengers did. Everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it, so she tried what Scorpius did and turned sharply. Aziza went flying off with a scream but Scorpius held on tight as Rose picked up more speed, unaware that Scorpius was still on the end as she started laughing.

He lost his balance and then was dragging behind the broom, holding on for his dear life and legs whipping this way and that.

"Rose! Look behind you!" yelled Al while him and Josef were falling over laughing. It was the only time Josef fell down that day.

She looked behind her and then promptly stopped, shooting Scorpius forwards across the ice like a penguin as he lost his grip. He collided with the snowbank.

"Scorpius! Oh no! Oh no! Are you okay? I'm so sorry," she said as she flew over to him.

He had the biggest grin on his chapped cheeks.

"That was _epic_."

After they all took turns on the broom and more or less got the hang of skating, they gathered on the snow and gave Josef the ice.

He instructed them to make a beat for him; Rose was knocking her skate blades together rhythmically, Aziza was stomping with her boots on the ice, Scorpius was smacking his legs with his palms, and Al was whistling a not very well known wizard ballad that Josef seemed to know quite well. Josef skated out to the middle of the cleared ice and put his head down. They started their musical song. Rose felt a little silly at the start, but not for long.

Josef listened to their beat for a few moments before his head started bobbing. His arms came up from the sides in a semi-circle over his head, fingers pointed perfectly, and he pivoted on one skate in a circle, arms dancing around his body in patterns as he skated backwards a few strides into a spin.

He got lost in the music and performed for them, gracefully gliding, jumping, and twirling in the empty space around him. He landed all his jumps with a flourish of his arms and keeping time with the rhythm that didn't desist.

It was the first time Rose had seen Josef_ alive._ The concentration on his face was unrivaled and his passion showed in the artistic and such perfectly timed motions of his body.

He finished with a triple axel that turned into a spin. His hands raised skywards and his leg came closer to his body, turning him faster and faster. The spin eventually slowed and he stopped before the crowd and bowed, with a relaxed expression on his face. Their beat stopped and they all instantly stood up to give him a standing ovation.

When they eventually made their way back inside they were soaked, sore, and cold. But they had smiles on their faces and Rose thought it was worth it. The magic of their afternoon disappeared when they were just outside the castle. Scorpius hung back and told everyone to go ahead. He avoided all their eyes and said he'd catch up with everyone later.

When everyone split up to go to their respective dormitories she hid in the Great Hall to watch him. He entered the school a few minutes later by himself. His scarf that was lose all afternoon in the nice weather was tight around his face – covering it, _hiding_ it. His tuque was pulled low over his head and he had a bookbag with him. The only reasonable explanation was that he was using it for an alibi if anyone questioned his whereabouts.

It hurt, but she was also confused as to why he still cared what people thought.

* * *

"Good morning Rose," Professor Longbottom said to her as she entered the Greenhouses early. "How are you doing?"

Rose watched him dig around in the soil and replant some flowers. "I'm okay I guess."

He looked up at her, inspecting her closely. "Rose, is there anything you'd like to talk about? I may be a professor, but rumours still reach my ears."

She just hoped he wasn't telling her parents anything. "No, it's okay. I'm handling everything."

She distracted him by asking about the flower he was planting. Everything – Pippa, Nolan, Scorpius – they were all things she had to deal with. They were her own problems and she didn't want to burden anyone with petty things.

* * *

Rose and Aziza stared at the table, at the six or seven pamphlets that graced its surface. They were all pamphlets that Rose had received in her stocking at Christmas.

"How do I choose?" asked Rose. Each pamphlet contained a different drama school from around Europe.

"Which is the best?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm not really concerned with the best. . . I feel drama school is you get what you give, regardless of reputation. I could be wrong though. . . I'm looking more towards a city where I can be involved in the arts outside of the school as well, whether it be muggle or magic. Like I'd rather go to Bristol than London, but London has a much larger arts scene by sheer population. And I'd prefer Salzburg to Bristol, but I don't speak any German. . ."

"Well you could learn it," Aziza encouraged.

"I know. It's just a lot of work. . . "

"Come on Rose. You've never shied away from a challenge. Don't start now. Where do you _really_ want to go?"

Rose wrote to her mother for advice. Thinking of the future was scary when she was just sixteen. How did she know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life! What if she was grossly wrong about where she went? There were so many choices out there and she wasn't sure how to pick just one direction.

_Rose,_

_I'm glad you're thinking about your future and all the options out there. But remember that just because you choose a school, or a certain career path doesn't mean that it can't be changed later on, even years later. As long as you're happy, we support you whole heartedly and will be at every performance you're future self will star in or direct. If you're that worried about schools perhaps we can go on a vacation this summer and look around at a few of the top contenders. Your father and I are always behind you. You have an amazing talent that we've seen blossom over the years._

_Make sure you and Aziza are eating enough protein and that Hugo hands in his homework on time. From what we've gleaned into his letters he's spending a colossal amount of time in the library researching amphibians instead of doing his school work. Care to check that out for us?_

_And I'm sorry to hear that your friendship with Pippa is still not reconciled. Don't give up on her and make sure she knows that you two will be waiting with open arms. It's sometimes pride that will keep her away after a big fight so don't be afraid to take the first step, even if you think she was in the wrong._

_Love you lots,_

_Mum and Dad_

She loved letters from her parents. They were smart and just made everything seem less complicated. She tucked the letter in her notebook and left the library, planning on writing a reply later that night after she heckled Hugo.

* * *

She was walking down the corridor on her way to the Gryffindor Tower with Rigel padding along beside her when she suddenly fell over; the two books she checked out went sliding across the floor and the moleskine from Scorpius fell out of her pocket beside her. There was absolutely nothing there to make her fall, but she looked behind her and the source wasn't very far away. As soon as she saw it was Nolan, she pulled the moleskine close to her to hide it from view. Nolan was smirking at her and had his wand in his hand, palming it.

"On the ground where you belong Weasley."

Rigel started hissing at him until Rose ran her hand down his back a few times. Rose kept her eyes on Nolan until he left her sight, not saying anything. As soon as he left, a few tears started falling down her cheeks. She'd just had enough. She picked up her books and curled up in an alcove with Rigel, crying and wishing everything was different.

* * *

The trip from the Gryffindor tower to the kitchens was a lot scarier in the dark. Rose was meeting Aziza at midnight for a late Friday night snack. They had sent owls back and forth to each other making the plans while Aziza was on patrol with prefect duties. Scorpius was invited but he said he couldn't make it.

Rose didn't consider herself very sneaky. As she left the Gryffindor tower she just felt like all eyes were on her, especially the portraits. Her wand remained unlit and she navigated through the dark, trying to be quick.

With these late night trips, her imagination sometimes got the best of her. Every creak, rustle, and groan felt like someone (or something) was going to jump out and attack her. Friday nights seemed to be the worst, for prefects were out in full glory and the chances of being caught were much higher.

"I am a fearless spy hidden in enemy territory. No noise will scare me!" She tried out a somersault across a hallway, just like a spy would do, but flopped loudly on the ground. Her mood quickly died. She was too nervous and ungraceful.

She made it safely to the moving staircases; she just couldn't take the secret passageway down in the dark by herself. That seemed like just pushing things and it would most likely scare the crap out of her.

She waited for the staircase to come up to the platform and come it did, but someone was on it.

Rose took off running back the way she came, turning left and right and finally stopping behind a suit of armour, breathing heavily and trying to listen to see if she was heard and if anyone followed. She had tried being quiet, but in the dead of night, a mouse's footsteps could be heard.

A wand light came from the end of the corridor and started advancing closer and closer. Rose shrunk back. She couldn't see who was coming closer. She didn't know if it was friend or foe, kin or enemy.

There was a tap on her shoulder and – _she knew nobody was there, it was totally an empty corner_ – but it surprised her and she tried to scream. Yet an arm snaked up out of nowhere and covered her mouth.

"You're such a chicken shit," she heard Lily chuckle softly. Then her mouth was released and Lily threw something over her that Rose recognised a few seconds later as the invisibility cloak. The two huddled together in the corner.

"I can't believe you did that," Rose whispered as her heart finally started to resume its normal patter.

Lily put her finger to her lips and the two stayed silent as the wand-bearer shoved a light near where they were standing and snooped around to find what caused the noise. It was a two Gryffindor Seventh Year Prefects.

"You check the left side, and I'll check the right. Somebody's out of bed," the boy said.

"So many knights in armour here. These metal things are annoying to check behind."

Lily slowly kneeled down and released something black on the ground. It scuttled off and down the hallway and hit the wall with a small explosion of smoke. The prefects started swearing and ran down the hallway.

"Kneel down more," Lily said. "You're too tall for the cloak standing." The two left the corner and made it a safe distance away before Lily pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket and inspected it. She pulled the cloak off of them.

"All good. The prefects are detained back in the hallway and nobody else is near."

Rose could only stare in awe. "It's _you_ that has the map?" The infamous Marauders map in the family had been missing for the past ten years or so. While nobody revealed its exact location, everyone knew that someone in the family had it. It was stolen repeatedly from member to member. Seems the current owner was Lily.

She gave a sly smile. "Nicked it from Roxanne two Christmases ago. She accidentally let slip that she nicked it from Louis, who nicked it from Molly and yadda yadda eventually getting back to Victoire and Teddy. She had one to many drinks."

"Roxanne hasn't gone to school in so many years!"

"I know, I think she purposely revealed it to me because it was rather obvious hinting. She just wanted to make sure James didn't get it back. He's been on the hunt for it ever since he lost it ages ago."

Rose laughed. James was probably extremely choked to lose possession of it.

"So, where are you heading this Friday night?"

"To the kitchens actually. I'm meeting Azzy."

"The kitchens," Lily said with her eyebrows raised high. "I've never been before."

"You want to come?" asked Rose and Lily immediately started nodding, a smile creeping onto her face. "I don't think we're doing much more than playing cards and eating. . ." she warned.

"Sounds amazing! Better than wandering around the school by myself." She handed the map to Rose and they started navigating down to the kitchens, easily dodging the roaming population. It was much easier than sneaking and the castle was less creepy with a companion.

"What're your friends up to tonight?"

"Sleeping actually! We were out in full force last night terrorising Peeves and the Bloody Baron and everyone was rather tired. I was in bed and looking at the map when I saw you out in the hallway. Thought I'd give you a scare since you were travelling very slowly."

They made it to the kitchen and Lily was watching Rose closely as she tickled the pear.

"It's that simple?" she said. "_Wow_."

As soon as they entered a few House Elves came up to them and offered them food and drinks.

They took a seat at a table and waited for Aziza to get there. By the time she came, Lily was already a few sweets deep and Rose was on her second glass of hot lemon and honey.

Aziza asked for tea and the House Elves promptly delivered. She joined Lily and Rose and the three played 'Old Witch,' 'Wizards Dilemma,' and 'Hobgoblin's Corners' until the wee hours of the morning.

"That's my new favourite place in Hogwarts," Lily told Rose after they left Aziza at the Hufflepuff common room. "And so few people know about it. It's nice. Free food. Thanks for letting me come."

"You're always welcome to come with us," replied Rose. "Now let's see if we can make it back without getting caught. I had this idea earlier that I was a spy and. . . "

* * *

The moleskine from Scorpius was proving very useful; in fact, Rose couldn't remember a time she lived without it. She never left her dorm in the morning without it and she never went to bed without writing something into it.

It was an all-purpose journal for her. She found she was sometimes writing small sketches, or the odd poetry piece, a few speeches, quotes from plays, and settings for potential plays. She found herself going through all the scrap paper she wrote in the past six years that was crumpled on the bottom of her trunk and transcribing it into the journal for safer storage.

Then one evening she discovered the magical thing about it. It never ran out of pages. No matter how much she wrote there were always more pages. It was utterly amazing. It didn't get heavier the more pages there were, nor did it increase incrementally in size.

As soon as she realised that fact, she wanted to go find Scorpius to express her gratitude. The only problem was that she didn't where he was. Luckily it was her cousin who possessed the all-knowing map. She slyly made a reference to it in the Gryffindor Common Room and Lily took her up to her floor to let her see it.

She eventually found Scorpius. He was with her brother at the back of the library. Rose was happily surprised to see that. They were probably playing chess since both of them were excellent players. Rose was about to take off in search of them when something disturbing caught her attention: Nolan and Josef were alone in a corridor.

Her plans abruptly changed.

Rose gave the map to Lily without mentioning her observations and took off quickly.

By the time she got there, Nolan was gone. Rose slowly approached Josef who was tucked up against the wall, his head on his knees and tears on his brown cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Rose said softly. Josef flinched at the sound of her voice, but didn't lift his head. His dark brown hair was mussed up and out of order, unlike its usual state. She hung back a little bit, unsure if he wanted to be alone or not. "It's Rose. . . "

He still didn't say anything. Rose took the chance and went to him, sitting down beside him.

"It's hard sometimes, at Hogwarts," Rose said after a few moments. "We're all stuck in a castle, living together, eating together, and learning together with students from all walks of life. Sometimes the space seems so small and crammed. . . Then other times it feels vast and immeasurable. We're all significant to its history though, and we all pass through and leave our mark, whether it be a good or bad one. With the bad ones, it's hard to remember that there's a world out there that you can escape into after. That there's family and loved ones and happiness."

There was no response from Josef. She didn't know where that speech came from. It sounded awfully close to one she wrote the previous evening in her journal and one that echoed in her thoughts when she was feeling down.

"Nolan doesn't like me either," Rose said finally. "And I mean, it's not like I don't give him a reason. I'm weird, I talk to toads, I hexed him a lot when I was younger, I'm very unpopular with his crowd. I'm everything he hates. But he finds a perverted happiness by bullying those who won't threaten his status; people who fly under the radar and nobody will really care about. You and I get to take the brunt of that."

Rose hoped Nolan didn't pick on Josef too often. He had a softer disposition than her and was more sensitive.

"Who am I to say anything though," Rose said quietly. "I'm just a sixteen year old girl who can't seem to figure her own life out. I wish I could give you some life-shattering advice that you could use to stand up to him and get him to stop, but I don't have anything. I'm just empty. Dry. Tired. Sad."

She was exceptionally tired and sad the past week because the rumour of her fear was spreading wider and wider. Apparently people enjoyed how she reacted to it for she was finding spiders on her desk, in her bookbag and even her _bed_. She was in a constant state of anxiety and was checking and double checking everything around her.

"But you're here," Josef said finally. "That's enough for me right now."

* * *

Winter slowly faded into spring, homework seemed to be increasing and Rose found herself reading less for pleasure and more for school.

"Remember class, term projects are due in two weeks to this day. If you haven't started the write up yet, get started. I will know if you've written it the night before," Professor Alicant warned. The project was to research a dark creature, its weaknesses and strengths, and then explain how to best defend against it. Each student had to present before the class as everyone else made notes. For the practical, they would have to go up against a few that the professor picked and know how to defeat it.

She continued, "presentations are starting the week after, so if you haven't picked the day and time you'd like to go, come speak to me in the next few days. And that's everything for today – "

Everyone closed their books and started packing up. "– but Pippa, come speak to me before you leave."

Rose froze and looked behind her. Pippa was sitting at the back of the classroom and looked angry that she was called upon. Rose made a split second decision and dropped her inkwell on her bookbag that was sitting on the floor. It broke and splattered everywhere. She kicked her bag over and acted like she tripped as everything that was inside it went spilling out on the floor. The professor shot her a look that Rose could understand only too well – she knew what Rose was up to.

Pippa sauntered down to the front. Her hair was still very uneven and her uniform was stained and crumpled.

"What?" she said bluntly. Her arms were crossed and she didn't even acknowledge Rose's gaze. Rose bent down and started cleaning up her mess. It was a full inkwell that she broke. All her books, homework, and bag were completely stained black. The librarian was going to rip one into her as she was carrying books from there.

She would have to redo one essay that was almost all black. She grimaced at her books that were now ruined, but didn't rue her decision yet. She was listening closely to the conversation ahead of her.

"I'm still waiting for your compare and contrast on Goblin and Merfolk Defense Systems."

Pippa shrugged. "So?"

"Well, you're a Sixth Year and if you'd like to get a passing grade for this class you have to put in the work."

Pippa rolled her eyes.

"I'm giving you an extra week extension before I start to take some serious marks away. It might not seem important now, but everything is adding up and you're not doing very well in this class. You're hanging on by the smallest thread."

"Can I go now?"

Professor Alicant sighed. "Do we need to go visit the Headmistress again?"

Rose stopped mopping her book with her shirt sleeve. Her hands were now stained. Of course she could try to vanish it, but then she would have to leave and she wanted to wait.

"Ooohhh, the big bad Headmistress who rarely leaves her cave. I'm _so_ scaaared."

The professor rubbed her eyes. "Have some _respect _Pippa. We're going to have another academic meeting if that essay isn't on my desk, completed, by the end of this week. You've got some work to do."

Pippa didn't say anything and turned and left the classroom, still avoiding Rose. She sat back on her heels; ignoring her ink stained books and looked at the Professor.

Normally Rose wasn't a large fan of Professor Alicant, but she was starting to like her more and more.

"I don't know what's going to happen to that girl. I don't know if she'll be allowed to be at Hogwarts much longer if she continues acting this way."

Then Alicant left and Rose was sitting alone in the room, with a huge mess in front of her. She was going to be late for Potions, that was for sure.

Pippa couldn't be expelled. That would just make the situation explode with no resolution.

For the next two nights straight, Rose worked in the library on an essay that wasn't for her. She couldn't base the compare and contrast off of her own, and wrote it in a different style, similar to Pippa's that she'd seen multiple times since First Year. She didn't want Alicant to think it was her at all.

On the third day the essay was complete. She got Josef to let her in the Slytherin common room one afternoon while she was hidden in the invisibility cloak – she felt a brief pang of melancholy because she was so rarely in there anymore before she quickly dispelled it and went to the Pippa's dorm. She left the essay on her bed, half tucked under a pillow.

There wasn't anything else Rose could do. Either Pippa used it, or didn't. She hoped it was the former.

But it didn't stop. For the next month Rose found herself doing double the homework of a regular sixth year. She didn't want Pippa to fail out, Rose told herself over and over when she was up in the wee hours in the morning. Deep down, it was because she wanted Pippa to forgive her. She wanted them to be friends again.

Nothing was ever said; in fact Rose couldn't even be positive that Pippa was using her essays. She was guessing they were being rewritten to some extent and handed in. In every class she had with the Slytherins she was sure to pay attention to who was handing in what and what was being handed back. Pippa was handing in roughly more than half during class.

The consequences of extra homework were not hard to guess. Rose found herself sleep deprived and exhausted for the weekdays and then trying to catch up sleep on the weekends.

"Aziza what are you thinking about doing after Hogwarts?" asked Rose as she yawned over the supper table. "I feel like all I've been doing is worrying over me and not paying attention to what you're up to."

"Well it's not like I have a great plan yet. It's all a . . . work in progress still."

"And?"

"Well. I don't know how to explain. My thinking the past few weeks hasn't been with the future but more the _far_ future. But I don't know if it's dumb to think like that. . . Or where we all will be."

"Let's hear it."

"I did consider drama school with you, to be a set designer or painter," Rose's eyes lit up at that statement. Aziza gave a wry smile. "But I think I'm going to pursue a business degree in marketing. That involves creativity and artsy things too, I think."

"That would be a decent profession if you were in it," Rose said. "What do you mean by far future thinking though?"

Aziza seemed very interested in her carrots. "Like after you do drama school and start working, and I finish school to start working. I have this crazy idea that maybe we'd run a theatre together. . . And put on plays. And I'd do the business and set designing side. And yeah. . . That's just where I've been thinking."

Rose's jaw dropped. "You – really? I haven't even thought past where I want to go to school! That sounds so brilliant though!"

"It'll be a long time before we're close to being near that. It was just a thought, a hope maybe. It's not set in stone though. But I can't get it out of my head."

* * *

The day the ice was completely off the lake found Aziza and Rose standing in front of it. Unlike the past few years, they were fully clothed and didn't bring out towels or bathing wear with them.

It didn't feel right without Pippa. Even standing there and looking out onto the water felt like a betrayal.

They weren't going to jump this year.

"I'm so happy right now. And so sad," Aziza said. "Happy because we've just beaten Slytherin and are in the Quidditch finals. Sad because of how everything panned out. I don't understand what is going on."

"I really don't either."

* * *

It was late in May that Rose found herself alone outside by a large oak tree, reading. Aziza was at Quidditch practice getting ready for the big final game, though she was probably done now. . .

Rose had just reached the part in _King Leopold_ where Gomquil commited suicide when she shut the book. Everything was chaos and crashing down around the characters. Today just felt like the wrong day for a dramatic tragedy. So wrong.

She had an odd feeling that there was somewhere she had to be; there was something intrinsically _wrong_ somewhere in the world. She couldn't put a name to it though and continued to fidget and look around instead of reading. She's read plenty tragedies before – why was this one so consuming? She just couldn't concentrate.

Instead of trying to push through her play, Rose stood up and walked to the Black Lake's edge, letting the tips of her boots get wet.

She looked back at the castle and shaded her eyes from the sun. What on Earth was bugging her so much?

Then she noticed a figure in the distance running in her general direction. Dark skin, lean muscular body, very little hair. . . Was Aziza running to her?

Rose left her bag and started walking quickly towards her. Something wasn't right, something wasn't right. . . Perhaps it wasn't the book. She picked up her pace, almost to a jog. She felt scared for some reason.

"Rose! Rose! Hurry!" screeched Aziza when she was about thirty metres away. She was out of breath because of running full tilt from who knew where, but she didn't stop until she was in front of Rose. "I've heard – came from Quidditch. It's Nolan – and Al. By Charms. And Josef. They're all – "

Rose's mind connected the dots that instant and she immediately took off sprinting towards the castle, not even waiting for Aziza to finish her sentence or come with her.

Her long legs were stretched out to the max as she took impossibly large strides. She skidded into the castle, disrupting a few students but taking no notice of them.

As soon as she reached the stairs she jumped up them about five at a time. She ignored the rule from first year about not running on moving staircases as she _flew_ over them and even leaped dangerously from the top of the moving staircase to the platform that was moving away, something that had previously lost her 100 points.

She had to get there quicker. It was taking too long to run. If it was _Nolan; _her anger was already flaring. She hated him, she hated him, she hated him. This was it. The final straw. She had had enough.

She turned the corner to the Transfiguration corridor and took the shortcut up to Charms.

There was a huge crowd bunched together in the hallway. They were whispering and laughing and talking loudly. A few of the students in the back were standing on tiptoes and trying to look over to the centre of the circle. Running swiftly towards them, Rose inserted her hands and thrust apart roughly, separating the students to clear a path; ignoring their indignant yells at being forcefully pushed to the side.

Rose was easily taller and stronger than them and they were like blades of grass under a human foot with how fast her adrenaline was pumping.

She pulled out her wand as she neared the middle and practically kicked one of the Gryffindor girls in her year out of the way. She was now at the heart of the commotion.

Nolan was standing above both Al and Josef with his wand out. Al was on the floor with a bloodied lip and black eye. Josef was beside him, holding tightly onto Al's arm and shaking.

". . . really pathetic. Don't know how -"

Rose jumped in at that moment in front of her friends and violently pushed Nolan backwards. He fell over from the push into the crowd of students and there were some yells of annoyance before he was upright again. One of Nolan's friends who was standing inside the circle lazily shot a spell at her that she instinctively blocked; her wand poised and ready for the next one. She left a '_Protego'_ up so she could focus on just Nolan. Rose brought her wand up to his face.

"_Leave_. Back off and leave right now," she said quietly and angrily. Her vision tunneled onto Nolan; the room cleared around her and instead of all the students that were chanting and jeering, it was just her and Nolan. Just her and the slimy, greasy, waste of space standing before her.

He had his own wand out and it was pointed at her. A sneer graced his face as he upheld her guarding her cousin and friend.

"Oh look everyone," he said loudly and pointed at her with his other hand. "It's the schools biggest loser come to protect the faggots. Not much good you'll do here, everyone knows already! I found them snogging in the classroom."

There was some laughter from around her. Rose flung her wand at him, some jinx springing to the tip of her lips. Nolan was quick though and blocked it, though he didn't seem to think he could react that fast. He blinked a few times in surprise at the ferocity of her attack. He steadied himself and ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back. His handsome face was twisted around into a scowl when he faced her again.

"Get. _Lost_. And leave them alone. They're worth an infinitesimal amount more than you will _ever _be you cowardly bastard."

The scowl turned to a smirk. "See that's where you're wrong. Something's wrong with your faggot cousin and that other pathetic quivering thing beside him. Luckily I was here just in time to intervene."

"There's nothing wrong with us!" Al said angrily from the floor. He was dabbing at his lip and blood was getting on his fingertips. "Get over yourself."

Nolan apparently took offense to that and tried lunging forward around Rose to get to Al. But Rose moved quickly in front of him to block him, grabbing his collar to stop him with her right hand and then swinging at him with her left hand with much more force than the last time she punched, connecting with his nose and breaking it. Her hand started throbbing. He hadn't been expecting a physical attack from her in front of a crowd.

She stood fierce and strong in front of him, not flinching or turning away as Nolan started yelling obscenities at her while holding his hands to his profusely bleeding face. Nolan's friends crowded around him and were checking on him. He threw them off as they tried to see what his face looked like. One of his Ravenclaw friends turned around to face Rose.

"Weasley. . . " he hissed. "Always getting involved when she's not wanted. . . _Reducto_!"

She quickly blocked it. And then turned to block the next incoming spell. She didn't care about the crowd getting hit by reflecting spells, her priority was Al and Josef and keeping them safe. All the students standing around seemed to draw closer despite the spells flying. They had a sick pleasure at the drama unfolding, someone being hurt.

Even though she was dueling, she still kept an eye on the main concern: Nolan. Her eyes flicked to him every few seconds. He was the ringleader in this fiasco; it was him his minions would follow.

When he moved his hands away from his nose, she could see that it was sprouting blood and swollen. She felt a grim satisfaction. The blood was getting all over his hands and shirt and in his mouth. He looked like a mess and his nose was bent at an unnatural angle.

She wanted to turn around and ask Al and Josef if they were alright but she didn't dare. The offensive spells slowed down for a moment. The boys were all talking, heads close together.

" - stupid bitch. . . " she heard Nolan say. ". . . taught who is. . . We _all_ will. . . "

Nolan took one more swipe at his nose to clear the running blood before he faced her again.

Rose raised her wand in a challenge and said, "how DARE you ostracise someone just because they are different than you. How – how _ignorant_ do you have to be?"

She felt someone come up behind her back and tensed up, momentarily afraid to look over her shoulder for who it would be. But she felt a supportive, warm hand on her shoulder and Lily was there. She had her wand pointed at Nolan with a fierce look.

"Check on them please," Rose mouthed. "I've got him." Lily gave her a reassuring glance and moved back to check her brother and Josef, kneeling on the ground with him

"It's a whole family of faggot lovers!" Nolan shouted to the crowd. "Never would have guessed that they all were so twisted. Well, we've known about you since First year Weasley."

Rose's lip curled. As Nolan continued to speak to the crowd, Rose looked at Lily.

"Lily," Rose muttered. "Go get Professor Longbottom, the Headmistress, or Alicant. And try to clear some of the crowd. Nolan's only making a scene because of the attention."

"I'm not leaving you here alone!" she said back, her eyes flashing.

"I've handled him for this long already; a little bit more will be no problem. I need someone I can trust. Please."

It took Al tugging at Lily's shirt and talking quietly to get her to adopt a less ferocious look. Rose could hear her murmur, "you're not Al_. Don't listen to anything he says_."

Rose kept her eyes on Nolan and his minions while the two boys stood up, Josef with help, for his knee was badly bruised.

It was taking long enough and Nolan noticed.

"Oh – hoh hoh! They're not leaving. I'm not done with them yet."

"What is wrong with you?" Lily exclaimed angrily. But before they could so much as leave, Nolan was waving his wand.

"Stupefy!" shouted Nolan and Rose was back into the duel, blocking instinctively.

She shot three hexes in a row at Nolan. He blocked the first two and missed the third. He fell backwards, body stiff and unmoving. Her small victory didn't last long for one of his friends was unfreezing him.

"Leave while he's down!" hissed Rose. The sooner they left, the sooner it would be over.

Nolan was panting heavily. Blood was still slowly ebbing out of his nose still and it smeared all over his lower face and shirt. "You leave and I'll use an _unforgiveable_."

Lily, Al and Josef stopped moving. Whispering started up in the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some students slowly backing away. Most stayed as things were just getting interesting. Even Rose half lowered her wand. An unforgiveable? Rose didn't know if she should take that threat seriously. There was a crowd of witnesses here; he couldn't be that dumb. . . Yet the look on Nolan's face didn't seem like he was joking.

Rose was about to retort back with something vindictive, when a new voice entered the fray and the warm body came to stand beside her. She looked up and Scorpius was there.

"Don't you dare threaten my friends again," he said in a deep voice, full of malice. "Nolan, you're done here. Lily, I'll stay with Rose. You need to get them out of here."

She wished she could feel relief at his voice, but she felt her insides squirming. Why did he show up now? She didn't want to live with the disappointment of him turning his back on her again. She started pushing him away from her. "Leave! Get out of here!"

"Rose! Stop," he said, confused by her actions. He quelled her hands.

Nolan was grinning widely. "Scorpius! Now we have everyone. I tell you, you have good timing. Let's deal with the queers and their keeper together."

Rose looked up at Scorpius and curled her mouth, rather surprised he wasn't already crossing over to stand by Nolan since he wouldn't leave. She had hoped it would never come to this again. "Better scurry to his side then. Rumours will start circulating that you're associating with me.

Scorpius frowned at her and stood firm. "I'm not letting you face him alone. I won't turn my back on you again."

"I've got everything controlled. I know you'll always choose him over me. I've made _peace_ with it."

"I know where I stand. I'm tired of always caring what people think. This is past due."

"I'm serious, you don't have to get involved," repeated Rose. She didn't believe Scorpius. "Al's _my_ cousin."

"And they're both _my_ friends. Same with you," he retorted back just as quickly. He looked at Josef, knowing that Rose had her eyes on Nolan. Nolan seemed to be confused by what they were saying. "Josef, you okay mate?"

Josef nodded, still a little shaken up. The two boys were leaning against each other. Lily had her wand out and was eyeing both the crowd around her and Nolan and his gang. She gestured her brother forward.

"Scorpius, stop them!" cried out Nolan. Rose blocked his spell.

"Get it through your head, Nolan. We're not friends. You can't bully me anymore. I'm not on _your _side."

Nolan looked affronted. "Scorpius. Now. I'll tell your father."

"So? Tell him."

Nolan looked around at the crowd and seemed at a loss for words. "Oh? So that's it then. Seven years of friendship for a girl and two queers. I see how it is _Malfoy_. Finally living up to that weak reputation."

"Glad we see eye to eye on one thing."

Rose couldn't believe what was coming out of Scorpius's curled mouth. He was standing confidently beside her, not hiding or afraid to be associated with her. She always knew he wasn't really Nolan's friend, but he never had been able to stand up to him before. Despite the circumstances, she felt a smile form on her face and squeezed his hand in thanks before quickly letting go. One of the boys standing beside Nolan scarpered as soon as he realised Scorpius wasn't crossing over.

Then of course she saw a flash of red light and instinctively brought up a shield charm. Scorpius did the same.

They were in this together.

Lily got the two boys to the edge of the circle. There were some Hufflepuffs blocking her path and Lily didn't even say anything, didn't even give warning, she just brought her wand out and blasted space through the students, leading the two out.

Rose and Scorpius circled to cover them, wands out. They blocked two more spells from Nolan. He was practically foaming at the mouth in rage.

"Never would have thought that someone from my own house would turn against me," sneered Nolan. "Expected it from a Weasley, hell, I would have been SURPRISED out of my mind if I didn't see your pathetic lot here."

"I'm glad we lived up to expectations," Rose said.

While his two friends hung back, Nolan started walking forward until he was right in Rose's face, only centimetres away. He only got that close because his wand wasn't pointed at her; it was tapping on his chest. She could feel Scorpius's hand on her arm, half pulling her back out of the way, but she resisted him. Both their wands were pointed towards Nolan in case he tried anything.

He stopped tapping his wand and brought it up to Rose's neck, jabbing it in.

"Back up right now," growled Scorpius. He kept his grip tight on Rose's arm as he raised his wand to Nolan's neck, mimicking the movements.

Nolan ignored him. Rose was tense, and ready. She had every nerve hyperaware of what was transpiring and there was so much adrenaline running through her veins. She was ready for anything –

"No. Listen up," commanded Nolan quietly. He started talking, whispering revolting threats of what exactly what he was planning on doing when he found Albus and Josef later. It was fucked up; it was horrible; it was downright cruel.

Rose couldn't take it anymore when he continued his deranged blathering. She had had enough of him for one lifetime. Rage filled her.

She reached out and snatched his wand that was still poking ominously in her neck and snapped it in half without a second thought.

"If you dare go near them again, I'll kill you," she said. Her hand was held high in front of Nolan and she opened it; the wand halves dropped straight down and clattered loudly on the floor.

She felt Scorpius's arm slack and his wand drooped from Nolan's neck. Nolan stared at his broken wand on the floor and then turned his eyes up to Rose.

His eyes turned dark and she was just thinking she should back away when he attacked, tackling her to floor. Punches were coming at her face and it was all she could do to put her arms up and try to block. They were coming so quickly she didn't even have time to think about getting out from under him.

Then Nolan was off of her and she lay dazed for a moment, arms still up and defending against nobody. Scorpius had Nolan pinned on his stomach, his hands held behind his back, anger emanating from every pore of his body as Nolan was cursing him.

Rose slowly sat up and it was at that point that Lily and Aziza finally made it to the corridor with four Professors and the Headmistress.

"_What's going on!_" she thundered. The students that had been standing around were suddenly panicking and running. The Headmistress cast a spell that froze the peripheries in place.

Rose could only stare blankly as she moved to her knees and then lifted herself up. Her head felt extremely light and her eye was already swelling. The freezing charm was taken off as the Professors infiltrated the crowd, making note of who was there.

Suddenly everything got crazy; everyone was talking at once, and moving around and Rose found it hard to focus. Some of the students were still trying to creep away, others were telling their versions of what was happening. Rose blankly wandered around, unsure of what to do or where to go.

Scorpius got off Nolan's back as soon as Professor Longbottom came to him and then Nolan was escorted away to the Headmistresses office with his two friends.

"Let's get you to her office," Scorpius said softly when he saw her just standing and staring. "They're bringing Monsieur Tremblay there for you and Nolan. . . How are you?"

"Bloody hell," was all Rose said. And then gave a shaky laugh. She flapped her arms at him and touched her swollen face to express her emotions; there was nothing to describe how she felt at the moment. She couldn't believe what just happened. Scorpius wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. She rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him back, squeezing tight.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear. _Thank you for staying by my side_. She would have been content to stand there hugging him for the rest of the day but two boulders hit them and almost knocked them over. It was Aziza and _Pippa_.

Pippa wrapped her arms around Rose's waist. "Rose Weasley! Are you insane!"

"A . . . _greed_. . . " Aziza had her hands on her knees and was catching her breath. She was panting very heavily.

Rose detached from Scorpius and turned to face her friends. She couldn't even comment on Pippa's presence before she was engulfed in their hugs. Pippa's was like an iron vice and Rose missed it, missed her small lively friend.

"I'm okay. I'm fine. How's Al and Josef?" said Rose. But then the next thing she knew, Pippa was gone. Lost in the crowd.

They were instructed to get to the gargoyle on the seventh floor. Her legs felt weak but she was walking, albeit slower than normal. Even though she insisted she was well enough to walk by herself, Scorpius kept an arm around her waist to support her. She didn't fight him too hard.

Aziza was glancing over at Rose every few steps or so. "Rose I'm so sorry! I tried to run faster to get the Headmistress, I passed Lily and then Scorpius and they both stopped to question me and then I saw Pippa and . . . _And I'm so sorry_."

Rose lifted her hand and went to pat Aziza'a shoulder, but missed by a few feet. Depth perception was a tad off. "It's okay Azzy. It's okay. You were amazing."

"I just. . . I could have been quicker. Or if I flew! That would have been way faster. Idiot!" Aziza started muttering angrily to herself.

"Azzy, you did more than enough and Nolan's wand was snapped before he could do anything,"Scorpius said to placate her.

"Oh. . . _no_. I'm so screwed." Rose groaned and shut her eyes. Shutting her eyes made her dizzy and she tripped over her feet.

"What's wrong?" asked Scorpius as he caught her trip before she fell to the ground.

"I can't believe I broke his wand. I'm going to be expelled from Hogwarts!"

"You won't be expelled," Aziza said. "You can't be."

"I don't know," mumbled Rose. There was no way she wouldn't be expelled. They slowly made their way up stairs and through corridors until they were at the gargoyle.

"Don't worry Rose," Aziza said. "We'll make them understand they can't expel you."

That didn't soothe her however. Professor Longbottom was standing there, waiting with an indiscernible look on his face. He told the password to the gargoyle. It opened and they ascended.

* * *

"I can't believe I wasn't expelled," breathed Rose in the hospital wing. She had been fixed up quickly by Monsieur Tremblay with strict instructions to rest for the next two days so her concussion would fade, but wasn't allowed to leave yet. No one was. The farthest they went was the hospital wing after they had been questioned in the Headmistresses office. It was a bigger area and all the students involved were herded there.

Her, Scorpius, Aiziza, Lily, Hugo, and Josef were seated on chairs by Al's bed. Josef and Al were quietly talking together while the Headmistress was getting statements from a variety of students.

"You were defending Al and Josef. You wouldn't get expelled for that."

Rose thought otherwise still. She punched a student in the face and broke his nose. She snapped a wand. She shot some offensive spells. All in front of a crowd.

Her punishment was just, she thought, though much lighter than she was anticipating. She had detentions every Wednesday and Friday evening until the end of the year and lost all her Hogsmeade privileges while she remained at Hogwarts. The Headmistress was writing a letter to her parents and she lost a huge amount of points for her house. Her parents would not be impressed.

Nolan, surprisingly, wasn't expelled either, from what they heard. But he didn't get off lightly. He had detentions four times a week, was banned from Hogsmeade as well, lost points, had to attend counselling sessions for the remaining year and the next, a letter was sent to his parents, and had to write formal apologies to all parties involved.

Students left and right were getting detentions and losing House points. No one House was over-represented and most of the total scores would be in the negatives if it were possible.

Monsieur Tremblay was with Rose's dormmates who claimed that Rose had kicked them.

Which she probably did, but honestly she didn't care. They deserved it. If she got another detention from that she would accept it gladly.

She had her head resting on her hands. Everything just happened so fast. There were two things that were at the forefront of her mind at the moment that she couldn't stop thinking of. The first was the hug Pippa gave. Did that mean they were friends again? Was all forgiven? Truth be told Rose was sure she imagined the hug, and was too scared to ask someone if it actually happened.

The second thing was that she wasn't really sure what to say to Al and Josef. Nothing really changed, but at the same time, everything did. In reality, it didn't surprise Rose as much as it should have. Perhaps she guessed it subconsciously over the past few years.

She never had any inclination of them as a couple; however, they spent so much time together that it didn't seem out of place.

"So you're gay," Aziza finally said. She had her feet propped up on Albus's bed.

"Yup."

"How long have you two been dating? Or you are dating, right?"

"Since fifth year. Febuary 16." Albus and Josef shared a small smile together, lost in the memory.

Aziza raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I never would have guessed. Scorpius, you knew?"

Scorpius avoided Rose's eyes and seemed intent on kicking a dust bunny around.

"Yes, I did."

"He was the only one who knew, and he covered for us loads of times. We would have told everyone eventually, it was just. . . a difficult decision of _when_ and _how._"

She knew that she couldn't be mad at Scorpius for keeping the secret. Yet a tiny part of her wished he would have said something. Or Al told her himself. Better yet, why couldn't she just figure it out herself? She had been so focused on herself and her problems she wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her.

Who was the real Albus Potter though she wondered? All the clues were in front of her eyes the past sixteen years. How much was an act and how much was real?

The end of the year came by in a blur. Rose found herself busy trying to keep up with the last of homework, all the studying, periodic visits from Hugo to check how she was doing, and the large amount of detentions. She found a note under her pillow from Pippa that basically said to stop doing homework for her now; she would get her act together. Rose was a little bit relieved.

Her parents, Al's, Josef's, Nolan's, and Scorpius's parents all had to come to the school and there were meetings in and out of the Headmistresses office.

Rose's first view of Draco Malfoy was him glaring (or maybe staring - she wasn't sure) at her across the office when they were explaining to everyone what happened. At first Rose looked quickly away, unsure what to do, but then she thought that was a ridiculous response. She glared right back at him and then stuck out her tongue. Her mother happened to catch her doing that and stopped mid-sentence to stare at her in disbelief.

Scorpius held his head high around his dad and spoke confidently. When his voice petered out, he always looked to Rose, for her reassuring smile, in the face of his father. Scorpius had received an obscene amount of Howlers from his parents, even after the fact that they already sufficiently yelled at him at the school. However, he no longer was afraid to be friends with any of the Potters and Weasleys, especially Rose.

Throughout it all, Pippa kept her distance.

There were a few times that Aziza and Rose noticed her staring and looking at them, but she didn't ever come to them. She no longer was out with the party crowd. She kept to herself, sat by herself, and didn't talk to anyone.

The train ride back to the Platform 3/4, she didn't sit with them in their regular compartment. Instead, they had an addition of Al, Josef, and Scorpius. The first two to avoid being scrutinized by the Hogwarts population, for they were now the subject of gossip and stares, _all the time._ Scorpius because he had nowhere else to go now that he wasn't being blackmailed by Nolan.

It wasn't until they stopped off the train that Pippa was right in front of them.

Her eyes looked sad, and her hair limp in its chaotic cut. Her trunk was lying on the ground not too far away.

"I'm sorry for being a horrible friend to you both. And I know that I probably don't deserve it for what I've said, but I want to be friends with you again."

Aziza melted first and enveloped her into a hug. "Pippa we're not going to turn our backs on you. You could have come back anytime."

Rose stepped up and grabbed her hand. "Welcome back. Please don't leave again."

"I won't._ I won't_. I promise." She had tears in her eyes that she was trying to wipe away. Forgiveness was twofold and Rose didn't even mention the spider incident. She was just happy to have her back.

Hugo then came and was telling Rose to hurry up because their parents were waiting, and Aziza's parents were standing tall, at the back, looking anxiously for their daughter. They all had to say goodbye and part for the summer.

Pippa took her trunk and left the Platform by herself, her small form quickly getting lost in the crowd. Rose stared after her as Hugo tugged her forwards.

They still didn't have a _why_.

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_Literature referenced:_

King Leopold (1436) - Shizamphune


	6. Act V: Anagnorisis

**ACT V - _ANAGNORISIS_**

_(Seventh Year)_

* * *

That summer Rose had her first part-time job. She was hired by their neighbour to help with a catering business. It had nothing to do with what she wanted to do after Hogwarts, but it was the first bit of her own money she earned to put away towards it.

It was definitely a different summer. Hugo was off travelling for six weeks to observe the migration of magical frogs and for the first time Rose was home alone while her parents were at work. Usually the two of them would go over to the Potter's, or one of the other cousin's houses, but this summer she found she wasn't active as much. She and Hugo wrote lots of letters back and forth - and it helped, but it wasn't quite the same. To fill the quietness, Rose wrote in her moleskine, to Aziza, one letter to Pippa with no reply back – but it didn't worry Rose since Pippa had never replied to letters in the summer, and to Scorpius who surprised her when he actually responded.

On occasion, Albus and Lily would accompany her into town to go thrift shopping. They managed to add a lot of costumes and dresses to her Dress-Up Trunk and had loads of fun trying on bizarre clothes. The clothes came in handy when they put on little skits around the house, or just for the days Rose felt like dressing up for the heck of it.

It was a relaxing summer when she wasn't washing dishes and serving food for work. She spent a few weekends visiting Roxanne's newest baby and babysitting Molly's kids. Josef was over visiting Al most days, but he wasn't allowed to spend the nights anymore because they were officially a couple. If James and Lily couldn't have their girlfriend or boyfriend spend the night, then neither could Al.

Then, before she realised it, the summer was over and her Seventh Year was starting.

* * *

"Here," Hugo said as he grabbed her trunk from her hand. "I'll take it for you." He took off with both of their trunks to the train, his long hair bouncing wildly on his head and face tanned from the summer. Rose had no time to protest. Her parents came up behind her holding hands. Rose made a face at them that they just ignored. Parental displays of affection were gross.

"He's just sad you're graduating this year," her mum told her. "You've all grown up so fast. Make the most of your time and _please_ try not to get into any more trouble."

"Study hard too." Rose made a face at her dad. 'Study hard' usually came with a big spiel from her mum. Her dad grinned.

She hugged her parents, the last first day of school hug she would give them at the Platform, and then went off in search of Aziza. And maybe Pippa, if she hadn't changed her stance since the last time they talked.

Her parents joined her Aunt, Uncle, and James as Al and Lily went to the train. Rose thought about catching up with them, but decided against it to walk about the platform. This was her last year; she just wanted to absorb everything one last time.

There were so many tiny humans that were just starting school. Like really tiny. _She_ could never have been that small. The rest of the platform was full of friends greeting each other, parents hugging kids, and cats and owls galore. She felt so _old_ now. She hoped the new students would love Hogwarts and make happy memories within the walls.

Rose didn't really want it to end, didn't want this chapter of her life to be over yet.

As she made her way through the crowd, she finally saw Scorpius – not that she was deliberately looking for him. Nope. He looked decidedly uncomfortable as he stood with his parents. Contrary to the previous years, Nolan and other Slytherins weren't hanging around.

Rose paused in her walking and debated walking up to them. She honestly missed Scorpius this summer and talking with him face to face. Letters weren't quite the same. The impression she received from his father last year wasn't a great one and she could understand why as a kid his boggart was his father. She wondered if it had changed since then. And his mother was standing there. A small part of her was curious to see what she looked like for all she could see was her back.

They were friends now, in public eye. Would he be mad if she came up to them?

Scorpius caught her eye as she stood there and a smile crept up on his face, almost as if he could read her mind. His mum seemed to notice his happy expression and looked around curiously behind her in the crowd, skimming past Rose's face. At the moment, she was just an insignificant person in the crowd. Not for long.

She took a deep breath and patted her toads for moral support as they rested in her two front pockets. She felt self-conscious about them for the first time in her life for some reason, but Scorpius didn't take his eyes off of her as she walked over, distilling confidence into her just by his gaze. His mum eventually noticed her and looked frantically between her son and the oncoming redhead, a frown deepening on her face.

Out of her peripherals, her first view of his mum was of pristine composure. She was a small woman with not a blonde hair out of place on her head, not a wrinkle in her robes, nor any imperfections on her face. Her face seemed to pale as she took Rose in – scrubby boots, a small rip in one knee in her trousers, long green coat, hair a little wild – and the amphibians in her pocket.

"Mother. Father. This is Rose, one of my good friends. You didn't really get the chance to meet her at the end of last year."

His dad jumped about a foot in the air when he saw her standing right beside him. Rose gave a coy grin.

"Pleasure to meet you officially Mr Malfoy." She held out her hand and after a few moments of staring, he reluctantly reached out – almost as if he didn't realise he was doing it, and shook it quickly before retracting his hand and putting it in his pockets. "And you Ms Malfoy."

Scorpius's mum looked between her husband and son before she stuck out her hand and gave a weak and feeble shake before retracting it. She could feel disapproval radiating off of her. Rose just lifted her chin up and tried to ignore it.

"Ready to go on the train?" she asked Scorpius. He was still smiling like crazy through his parents glaring looks, his face positively glowing in happiness.

"I am." He picked up his trunk from behind him and gave a small wave to his parents. "Bye Mother. Father."

His mother managed to say bye, but his father was still rendered speechless by everything around him.

"My lady," Scorpius said as he held out his free arm to Rose. She burst out laughing as she took it. He didn't look back at his parents, but she did and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. They just looked so shocked at their son's behaviour.

"You are asking for a death wish from your parents," Rose said. "And I can't believe I'm helping you."

"They need to loosen up. And I'm so happy to get out of there. Hogwarts here we come!"

He practically skipped all the way to the train as Rigel followed him, meowing loudly. Rose helped him load his trunk in one of the empty compartments and then he was off to find Al and Josef.

Rose slowly made her way all the way to the back of the train to her regular compartment where both Aziza and Pippa were already seated.

She stood outside, observing for a few moments before she entered. Pippa looked like herself for the first time in a year and a half as she was wildly telling some story to Aziza. Bertie Bott's were on the seat, already open, and somehow Rigel beat her there and was curled up on the seat.

She entered the compartment and was greeted with a loud 'ROSE' and two huge hugs. It honestly felt like nothing had changed. It was great.

* * *

"I mean I'm not big on getting detentions," Aziza said after the feast in a surprising burst of passion. "But it would just be wrong if we didn't get our first one for sitting with each other at the Hufflepuff table. You'd think the teachers would just give up on that first day segregation and let us be."

They were headed down to the kitchen to wash the supper dishes. Since the kitchens were 'supposed' to be this big secret, they were told large vats of soapy water would be in the empty classroom just down the hall.

"Some professors will forever be sticks in the mud. Keeping our wands until the morning? That's so lame," Pippa said as she pushed some hair behind her ears. Her hair was getting longer and it looked like she tried to even out the ends this past summer to make it less choppy. "But at least Alicant knows she's one."

They reached the classroom and stopped in shock at the volume of dishware that was there already. There were stacks upon stacks of plates, cups, and silverware on the three tables that encircled tubs of water. They were given no instructions besides wash the dishes, dry, and then pile them. Aziza guessed the house elves would be by later to pick them up.

"This is going to be fun," murmured Rose. "I thought I'd done enough dishes this summer to last me a lifetime."

"Rose, you should take one for the team and just do them all for us," Aziza said as she playfully pushed Rose's shoulder. "With all the experience you have. . . "

Rose picked up some soap bubbles and threw them at her face. "Yeah right." The bubbles settled on Aziza's nose. She scrunched her nose and blew them off her face.

"Alright. I'll take one for the team and wash first, if someone wants to dry," Pippa said, in an extremely uncharacteristic move. Usually she would be complaining a lot more or just not do anything. She pulled off her robe and rolled up the sleeves on her shirt.

"I'll pass the dirty dishes to Pippa if you want to stack the clean ones on the table?" said Aziza, but Rose had already thrown her robe over Pippas' and was collecting the first plate.

Everything went systematic from then on; dishes were washed, dried, and piled. Occasionally water was splashed around for fun or songs hummed for entertainment.

Only it seemed like the dishes were never ending. They swapped – so Aziza washed and Pippa stacked the clean dishes, and then Rose was washing, and Pippa was passing. And as the hours passed, the dish piles weren't getting any smaller.

"I'm never eating off a plate again. It's hands from now on!" proclaimed Pippa. The dish water was now a murky brown with few bubbles. Pippa was back to washing.

Aziza held her hands out in front of her. "My hands are so pruney. I just keep telling myself that this is our last year, last detention on the first day of school we'll receive, but that doesn't make this experience better."

Rose leaned against the table and stopped drying. "What if it's morning already and classes have started. But everyone forgot about us?"

"It can't be morning yet. . . _Can it_? It has to be like. . . two a.m. at the latest? Why aren't there windows here? Medusa this is a horrible detention, at least with other ones we are told to leave when it gets late. I don't see how Alicant thought we'd ever be done."

"I think we have every single dish in this room. Nobody would be able to eat breakfast, so it can't be morning yet. And I change my mind," Aziza stated with a yawn. "We could have gone without this detention. This is exhausting."

"Let's all just go for a walk, maybe outside to get some fresh air and see if the sun is rising yet?"

"Yes! Great idea Rose. I need to leave this musty room," said Pippa. They all were bedraggled and sweaty. Pippa straightened her back with a loud crack.

They walked up to the main floor and opened the huge front doors. They all sat on the steps to peer into the night sky. Thousands upon thousands of stars were visible in the night sky and everything was dark around them. Rose leaned over and put her head on Aziza's shoulder; Pippa did the same on the other side.

"Sun's not up," she stated.

"I think it's a bit lighter in that general direction. . . "

"I wonder if this is how kitchen servants felt, back in the medieval ages," said Rose as she gazed off into the Black Forest. It was truly black at this moment and everything around her felt enchanted. "After the King and Queen or whoever put on a huge feast – there's just a never ending supply of dishes and everyone is up late, and tired, and you can't go to bed until everything is cleaned up. . . without magic. . . "

Aziza chuckled softly. "I think they'd have more than three people washing everything. Write a play about it."

That was certainly something she could think about.

"True. . ." she said softy and yawned.

Aziza prodded them before they fell asleep. "Let's go finish."

They reluctantly got up and dragged their feet back down to the room. To their surprise, it was empty.

"Did we go in the wrong room?" asked Aziza. Rose pried her eyes open and looked around.

"Well there are no dishes here, so we have to be."

Yet when they searched the two other rooms that were in the same corridor, none of the rooms had dishes in them.

"Holy Medusa. We lost the dishes!" exclaimed Pippa. "We are so dead."

"There has to be a reasonable explanation for this. Let's go check the kitchens." Aziza led the way.

It was the first Pippa learned of the kitchens and saw them in all their glory. A few house elves swarmed them when they entered and told them they had the dishes. They were instructed to take them when the three girls left, which they admitted wasn't supposed to be that long.

"So you mean us being responsible and staying this late to clean the dishes wasn't needed?" Pippa said flatly. "Ridiculous. Absolutely Ridiculous."

"Let's just go to bed. Whose dorm is the closest?"

They made it to Hufflepuff dormitory and Aziza threw them all random clothes for pyjamas.

"If anyone wakes me up before noon, you're getting pushed off the bed," warned Aziza. Luckily it was Saturday the next day and they could all sleep in late. Aziza was Quidditch captain and didn't have a scheduled practice for the morning.

They did rock, dragon, wand and Aziza lost - getting stuck with the middle. She complained Pippa should be there as she was smallest, but Pippa and Rose basically laid down on the edges and pulled the blankets up high. There was no room elsewhere. Aziza crawled in last and they were all squished in tight.

"Medusa, they should have given us that for a detention in first year. I probably would have been a better student," remarked Pippa. "I don't want to get another detention like that. It was worse than potion scrubbing."

"Do you really think you'd have been a better student?" asked Aziza.

". . . No. . . Probably not. I'd like to think I would though."

"Well you could try to not get any more detentions this year? Do something different than all the years previous."

"You'd like that." Pippa chuckled softly. "Maybe I will. Professor Mowla will probably have a heart attack though. . . Rose stop pulling the blankets."

"s' cold," replied Rose before she was fast asleep.

* * *

"Oh Herbology," Scorpius muttered. "I can't wait until I'm done you forever!"

His arms were elbow deep in a pile of hippogriff manure as he dug his way through it. The manure had been sitting outside in tubs all month just waiting for the Seventh Years to dig in. This was their first taste of a professional atmosphere; they were all wearing thick aprons, arm length gloves, face masks, and safety goggles.

The goal was to find the deep rhizomes off the Timbergin plant, pull them up, and then prepare them for the Hospital Wing to take to St. Mungos. Lucky for them that these rhizomes just happened to flourish in hippogriff manure.

"You'll miss it when you don't have it anymore," Rose said through her mask. When Scorpius pulled up the white roots, it was her job to put them in a small bowl of some concentrated acid, quickly wash the roots in the solution and then grabbing each end, twist in opposite directions. She had to pull out the inside - a dark green mushy stick like thing and pass it on to Pippa, whose job was to cut it up in the appropriate increments and package it up in tinfoil to keep it out of the light.

"I don't know. That's highly debatable at this moment."

"It's not too bad."

"I don't see you digging around in hippogriff shit."

"Hey it was you who lost rock, dragon, wand."

Professor Longbottom caught her eye from across the room and gave a subtle smile over at her. It was neat things they were doing, if somewhat undesirable and gross.

Rose tried to focus on her work. The acid was strong and she could feel its potency on the bit of skin that was exposed. But, it was hard to concentrate for more than one reason. Nolan was seated with his partner's right across from them.

She had been going with the whole 'pretend he's not there and ignore him at all times.' It didn't help that they shared numerous classes together. She just wasn't sure what was appropriate. He was still being closely watched and most of his punishments carried over from the previous year, though how much Rose was uncertain for rumours had circulated that were misleading.

She hated him still, she told herself all the time. He was a worthless piece of space and a horrible person. . .

and yet -

she found her temper was fading the more time passed. It was months since the 'Al and Josef incident.'

Nolan no longer strutted around the school with his friends at his back. He spent lots of time alone and was in detentions most evenings. All of his friends were disbanded and he just did everything by himself.

In a way, she was sorry for him. Whenever she thought that, she reminded herself of everything he did, and how judgemental he was. She didn't like him and probably never would. But she somehow felt pity for him. He seemed like he was having some sort of reversal of character this year.

She briefly talked about it with Scorpius, and he said that Nolan was locked in his curtains night in and out; it was _him_ that was avoiding all this friends.

Rose had asked him if he could ever be friends with Nolan in the future if he cooled off. But Scorpius said no, not after everything he did. He could eventually make peace with it though, same with Al and Josef.

Sometimes Nolan caught her eye and opened his mouth, as if he were going to say something to her. He never did however and it left Rose more nervous to be around him. What could he possibly want to say to her that she'd listen to?

Scorpius handed her the next root and she turned and got back to work.

* * *

They didn't get very far into their Seventh year before it took a busy turn. They were bombarded with assignments, papers, and homework without any reprieve. All the students in their year were suffering from lack of sleep and remarkably, carpal tunnel.

"It's like they want us to come back and repeat the year," Aziza said, frustrated one evening as she massaged her wrist. "They could slow it down just a bit so I could sleep more than a few hours in the night."

Aziza had it particularly bad because as Quidditch captain, she was spending just as much time planning out practices, making plans and playing on the pitch as in the classroom doing schoolwork.

The first match of the season, the whole Hufflepuff team was down for breakfast and in the change rooms before the Slytherin team even woke up.

Pippa met with Rose outside the castle before they went walking down to game that was starting in twenty minutes. Guacamole and Matilda were in her pockets, hitching a ride.

"What on Earth do you have?" asked Rose. Pippa had a large sac slung over her back.

"Chocolate. And candy. Those first year Ravenclaws actually thought there was a ban on Honeyduke sweets," she proclaimed happily. Then she answered Rose's questioning gaze.

"I have lots of betting to do today with Stella, Paul, and Alfie. Duh. And I'm out of practice so I might be off a bit in my judgements. For all I know, Dundolg might have corrected his arm and will stop overcompensating to the left to hit the target for once."

"Oh."

"Well, what do you have?" she shot right back at her.

"Just some papers and –" Pippa grabbed Rose's bag off of her shoulder.

"No. Rose _frickin_' Weasley we are taking a break this afternoon and are going to go enjoy a Quidditch match. You are not doing homework."

"Pippa we have star charts due Monday and that Care of Magical Creatures essay on Tuesday!"

"So? Don't let homework dictate your life. There's loads of time later for it."

But there wasn't. After the Quidditch game where Hufflepuff dominated and Pippa lost a bagful of stolen candy, Hugo asked her if she wanted to join a chess tournament between him and his mates.

She honestly couldn't say no to beating all the fifth year's arses. It was a victorious day when she beat Hugo for the first time in three years in the final match just before midnight. She only slightly regretted it when she was up until three in the morning trying to do star charts. Care of Magical Creatures would have to wait for another day.

* * *

The first day the snow fell, a barn owl came swooping through the air after lunch, wings flapping gracefully and quietly. All the students who were currently in the Great Hall noticed the owl for it wasn't the regular mail time. Whispers started up slowly, guessing who the recipient of the white letter the owl was holding.

Then when the owl reached Pippa everyone stared at her.

Pippa took the letter from the owl with a pale face, paler than normal. Pippa's daily letters _always_ without a doubt happened in the morning. Though come to think of it, there had been no letter this morning.

Rose and Aziza inched closer, curious as to why there was so much commotion over the letter. They had never before seen the owl; this was the barn owl's first flight to Hogwarts as far as they knew. Pippa waited until the whispers died down and most of the attention was away from her before she slowly started opening the letter, keeping the edges turned away from her friends.

It was a short letter. Short and to the point. Pippa crumpled it up after briefly glancing at it, took out her wand, and lit it on fire. Orange and yellow reflected in her eyes as she watched the flames with no apparent emotion on her face. Then the letter was gone, not a trace that it existed. She tapped her fingers on the table and then she gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes to the two girls.

"Well, that was good news. I'm going to finish that Charms essay now." Without another word she got up and left.

Aziza and Rose stared at each other. "What did she just say?" asked Rose.

"I think she said she's going to finish her essay."

"We must have heard her wrong. Right? She's never finished an essay in her life!"

They stared at Pippa's retreating back, unsure at what just happened.

A few minutes later the Headmistress came up to them, a serious expression on her face. "Where is Ms Wentworth?" she asked.

Aziza widened her eyes. "Umm. . . We don't know. She just left."

"Please tell her to come to my office when you see her."

"Bloody hell!" Rose said. "What is going on?"

* * *

They found Pippa through a combination of luck and coincidence sitting outside the Transfiguration corridor, scribbling away like mad on her essay. Every now and then a drop of water would fall from her face down to the parchment and blur some of the words together. Her legs were bundled under her and she was squeezed in a tiny nook in the wall, making her look smaller than she was.

"Pippa can we sit down and talk with you," asked Aziza softly. Both her and Rose stood hesitantly in front of her. They had never before seen her cry.

She looked up at them and wiped at her eyes. "I'm not crying or anything. I'm happy. I just don't know what to think right now." She looked so miserable even though she said she said she was happy.

They sat on either side of Pippa and she put down her essay and quill. Her fingers started twining together on her lap and she stared straight ahead.

"Hey, we're here for you, okay? No matter what," Aziza said.

Pippa shrugged. Then shrugged again. She wiped some more tears that fell from her eyes before pulled up her knees and buried her head in her legs. "I don't deserve you two as friends," she sobbed; her voice was muffled but they could still hear what she was saying. "I'm a despicable friend and I've treated you two so poorly."

Aziza and Pippa just held her while she cried. They had never seen Pippa like this. Eventually she slowed down and tried to calm herself.

"I suppose you two are wondering what's happened. . . Who the letter was from. . . "

"You don't have to tell us if you're not ready. It can wait."

Pippa lifted her face off her legs. "No, it's not like I'm not ready. I probably should have said something last year. . Or years before that. It's just _awkward_ to bring up and I didn't want pity or anything. I don't know why I'm crying. I'm not really sad over it. . . " She sighed. "Well, maybe. I don't know. You two are probably going to be disgusted with me."

After assuring her they wouldn't be, Rose and Pippa waited for her to collect her thoughts and speak.

"The letter was from this lawyer. I guess my mum just died and he was informing me of her will. Of which I get almost nothing because she had so many debts. . ._ yay._" She attempted to smile, but failed.

That was not what they were expecting to hear.

"I'm so sorry," Rose gasped. "That's awful."

"This is the part where you're going to be disgusted with me. . . " Pippa said. "Because it's not horrible. That bag should have died ten years ago, I absolutely hate her."

"_Oh_. . . "

"It just struck me that she was all I had. No brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or anything! She was my only family, though I always tried to deny it. And I'm alone now." Pippa flapped her hand pathetically. "It's just a moment of self-pity. And rather stupid. I'm trying to stop crying, but I can't at the moment."

"It's not stupid to cry when your mum dies," Aziza said. "Not even if you. . . hated her."

"I just promised myself I wouldn't cry when it happened; I would celebrate. I just didn't think it would happen for a few years yet."

"Oh, Pippa." Rose rubbed her back consolingly, at a loss for how to act.

"What about your sister?" prompted Aziza. "Is she not okay?"

Pippa's lip started trembling. "Can we talk about this part later. I'm kind of embarrassed about it all."

Aziza frowned. "What do you mean - ? Did something happen to her?"

Pippa threw up her arms. "Oh what the hell, might as well spill everything right here. I'm sorry in advance." She took a deep breath. "I actually don't have a sister."

"Katie -"

"Katie Maurice. Yes, I know I told you guys that."

"I don't understand," Rose whispered.

"I was lonely as a child. . . It was just me and my mother living at home and she was always bossing me around and trying to form me into some perfect daughter or something. I think she was so disappointed by how her own life turned out and how many missed opportunities she had. She used to be a professional Quidditch player, did you know? Then she had me not even one season in after getting signed and never played again. . . So, I tried to escape it all. I invented Katie Maurice to be my imaginary sister and keep me company, help me irritate my mother when she tried commanding me around, and make her think I was crazy so she would stop. Katie Maurice was the only one my age around me, well the only fake one for she wasn't real; just a figment of my imagination. When I first met you two, I really didn't mean to say anything about her but it just slipped out that one day. . . I couldn't take it back without you lot thinking I was insane."

Aziza was stunned into silence, thinking of all the times she heard Pippa talk about her 'sister.'

"We'd never think that," Rose said softly. "Pippa. . . You'll always have us for family. Never forget that."

She nodded. "I don't know what to do now though. My whole life has been in defiance of my mother. She always wanted me to be perfect. . . Perfect grades. . . Perfect attitude. . . Perfect everything. I hated it. She tried to control every aspect of my life and so everything I've ever done was a backlash against her. In a way she still controlled everything because she was always there. But she's not there now. I don't know who I am without rebelling against her."

"You have your whole life ahead of you to figure that out. And we'll help you."

Pippa took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes again.

"And I'm sorry about last year. I honestly just had enough of everything and alcohol made everything bearable, at least for the short term. I pushed you away because I didn't want you to stop me and figure out my messed up life. I knew that all the other girls were just using me to amuse themselves but they provided firewhisky and didn't question anything. . . It turned into shambles. And clearly there are better ways to deal with those things."

"There are. We'll always help you out. Thanks for letting us know," Aziza said.

"I think I'm in shock. I just can't believe she's dead. And I don't know what to even think. I mean I'm happy she's not there anymore. But she's not there anymore! I'm so mad! But not. At the same time."

"It'll take awhile before you will feel normal again. Don't worry about labelling everything right now," said Rose.

Pippa nodded. "Thanks for being here you two. I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back later tonight, but if I'm not back just don't worry about it. . . Ok? I just need some time alone."

Pippa gave them her bag to take and started walking off.

"I just want to hug her," Aziza said. "I never knew. . . "

How could any of them have guessed? The fact that they were stunned was a reflection of how confused Pippa was feeling. Everything about her finally made sense. Her behaviour, why she was who she was, the daily letters that usually were never opened, the rebelliousness, and why she never replied to their letters in the summer.

"I hope she'll be okay."

"She's Pippa, the toughest girl I know. She'll be fine."

She spent two days away from everyone before she was back in classes and sitting with them at the Hufflepuff table again. She had a chat with the Headmistress and was going back for the funeral that weekend even though she said she didn't want to.

As the weeks went by, Pippa was rather sombre even though she tried not to let it show. She was less spontaneous than usual and succumbed to bouts of quiet at times. Most classes she started paying more attention to the professor and spent less time making them angry. Her attitude about school changed and she became just a little less troublesome, which granted, most people would take as a good thing. Yet she didn't really want to talk to them about her mother or anything else. Pippa and Rose didn't push her for it would come out when she was ready.

* * *

Rose tied the ice skates up tightly, her palms lined red and white. She was determined to do better than last winter where she couldn't sit down for a week after skating. There was an icy wind blowing that cut through Rose's fingers, and Rose blew on her hands, trying to warm them before starting on her other skate. The ice on the Black Lake was finally frozen after them waiting for weeks for the weather to be cold long enough.

This year they planned everything a little better. Al and Josef were delegated the same task as the previous year – clearing off an area from the mounds of snow that had fallen, Rose and Scorpius were delegated to bring two fallen down logs from the Forbidden Forest and set them up near the ice so they could having something to sit on, and Pippa and Aziza were in charge of snacks and thermoses of hot drinks.

After returning from the kitchens, Pippa quickly put her skates on and went on the ice. It turned out she already knew how to ice skate; she learned when she was small and could actually do it decently. It was lucky for Aziza for she had a personal teacher now. Pippa didn't talk much as she did a few laps around the ice, going slow enough for Aziza to keep up. Josef and Al were also skating already, Josef pulling Al around as apparently he hadn't improved at all from the previous year.

The last two were still tying up the boots. They took their time finding good logs to drag out, Scorpius taking her on a mini adventure to his favourite spots as they tramped through the deep snow. As a result everyone was already on the ice by the time they were back.

"I'll race you to the end of the pond," Scorpius said after he tied his last double knot and straightened his legs out in front of him. He started scraping some ice with his blade, creating a small snow pile.

"That'd be interesting. . . " Rose said. She kicked her legs out as well in front of her once she finished and started putting her hair in a ponytail. "Two fumbly beginners who can barely stay standing in a race."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "That just means neither of us will have the advantage," he proclaimed.

Once the elastic was in she dropped her hair on her back and put on her mitts and tuque, pretended to be contemplating.

"Weelllll," she dragged out. She faced him and looked at his sparkling hazel eyes. "Okay." Suddenly she roughly pushed him off the log they were seated on and stood up, gaining a head start as he lay stuck in the snow.

She quickly looked back once she made a little distance and his legs were sticking in the air as he yelled, "_no fair_" before twisting himself around and crawling to get back to the ice. She shouldn't have turned around to look at him; it was hard to skate whilst laughing and she lost the potential to get even farther away.

"Oh, you're going to get it Rose Weasley!" he called out as he started skating quickly, trying to catch up. Neither of them were efficient skaters and so he wasn't able to gain much distance.

Rose gave a little scream and as she tried rapidly turning back around, her skates half flew out from under her. Luckily she managed to steady herself with her arms. With Scorpius's cajoling, she couldn't help her laughing as she tried to reach the finish line ahead of him.

She avoided falling by not turning back around to look at him. She was sorely tempted though. She could hear his journey just fine – blades scrapping on the ice, the swish of his clothes moving, breathing increasing and his voice calling out. She had a horrible yet gleeful feeling that he was going to catch up to her, but she didn't stop trying her best to make it to the end.

It was like fox and rabbit; Scorpius kept on her tail but couldn't seem to quite reach her. She was almost at the opposite bank and was just tasting victory when she finally gave into the urge to look behind her (stupid _stupid_!) and caused herself to lose balance and fall on her backside. At that moment she knew she was hooped. She started screaming for help from her friends and tried crawling forwards away from him, but before she could get very far, Scorpius got to her and jumped on her back.

"Face wash!" he yelled and snow was in her face and she was laughing and trying to pull away, but he was too heavy on her and her skates had no traction. All she could see was his black mitten and the white of the ice and snow that was being shoved to her exposed skin.

"_Ah_! _Cold_! Help!" she yelled as more snow went in her face. Her hands were around his wrists as she tried to push back his arms, but she had an awkward angle to push at and he was relentless

"Azzy! Al! Josef! Pippa! _Heelllllp_!"

Nobody came to her rescue. She was _so_ going to go find new friends.

After her face had been sufficiently frozen, Scorpius rolled off her and lay on the ice beside her, looking at her and grinning.

"Caught you," he said. She wiped the snow chunks off her cold face and threw it at him, crinkling her nose. She couldn't even feel her skin. Rose pulled her scarf up over her cheeks and breathed out warm air to try to warm up.

"You're an arse," she said to Scorpius. He was still laughing and she threw another chunk of snow at him. It was impossible to be angry at him when he was laughing. _That dimple_.

"You realise nobody has made it to the end yet? This race is still on!" Yet he made no motion to move.

"Let me unfreeze my face first."

Her scarf was doing nothing, so she took her mitts off and put her hands directly on her face. Her skin was rosy red from the cold.

"I can't feel my face," she muttered to him, trying to scowl and not smile.

"Couldn't help myself."

"Of course."

This time they both stood up and started racing from the exact same spot. Scorpius ended up winning by penguin diving at the finish line and sliding into the snow bank. Up until that point they were both neck in neck.

"Sorry for washing your face with snow," Scorpius said after he pulled himself from the snow bank. He was just as covered as her now.

"It's all fun," Rose said. They brushed off and he slowly made his way over to Josef and Al while she skated over to Aziza and Pippa. Aziza hadn't fallen once so far and was concentrating steadily on feet placement. Rose felt like a human snowball she was so covered in snow. She had frozen hair framing her face as well.

"So started dating Scorpius yet?" said Pippa as she turned around and started skating backwards to look at her.

Rose's eyes opened wide in surprise. "No! It's not like that."

"_Rose_."

"I'm serious!"

"You're face is giving you away," Aziza pointed out. "And it's not a bad thing! You two have great chemistry together."

Rose could feel the blush come forth, but at least her face finally felt warm. "_You guys_. It's not like that."

"Hey, come what may, Rose. Just don't be scared or run when it does happen, because I'm sure it will. You really like him even if you don't want to admit it right now. We're just saying that we support you and that if you don't eventually date him we might have to knock some sense into you."

"_Thanks_." Her face was radiating so much heat that Rose took off her scarf.

Pippa beamed and punched her shoulder, causing her to topple over sideways into Aziza. Rose managed to regain her balance, but Aziza finally came into contact with the ice, her legs and arms flying in all directions. She grumbled a lot before Pippa helped her back up.

Afterwards they pulled out the brooms and started dragging and whipping themselves around.

They skated until sundown. Because they improved immensely, ice skating was a lot more fun since they weren't constantly falling down on their arses. As they opened up the thermoses and sat on the logs, Josef skated for them again; a different routine than last year. One they made the beat to and Albus whistled for, his voice sharply cutting through the winter air with a clear quality, ending a brilliant day.

* * *

"What the hell!" exclaimed Rose to Pippa as they all put their Transfiguration essays on the table to compare marks. "You got a higher grade than me on my essay!"

"Than all of us, actually," muttered Scorpius with a frown as he riffled through hers, observing for himself this rare phenomena.

Pippa shrugged. "It's not like it's that hard to write essays if you actually put effort into it."

"You're such a difficult kid. You've been getting shitty grades for the past six years and now you're suddenly a genius?"

"Well it's because I was trying. And finally wrote the required length. Don't get too torn up about it. It probably won't last longer than _hmmm_. . . Right now."

Rose hit her head with her hand and Scorpius started laughing in disbelief. "Well don't stop! Keep at it!"

"No. I've got better things to do. This was just to prove to Professor _Dumbpants_ that I can write a decent essay because she keeps bitching at me. And plus I was up 'til four last night. No grade is worth losing what little sanity I have by lack of sleep."

Pippa actually finishing an essay didn't take them by as much surprise at it should have. They were getting used to the subtle changes in her character as days went by. She also was mysteriously gone a few evenings, with no explanations of where she was. But Rose soon found out what that was about one chilly afternoon when she was with catching up about NEWTS, OWLS, boys, and graduating with Lily.

Just around the corner from them, Pippa was flirting with the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. Hardcore.

"He just touched her arm in an affectionate manner. They have to be seeing each other," Lily protested.

"This is the first I've seen them together. And we've already been in school over six months. She would have said something to us! I'm sure of it."

Rose and Lily totally weren't spying on them; at least not on purpose. They were already seated with their large mugs of tea when they heard talking around the corner from a familiar voice.

"Look! She kissed his cheek!"

"Well, it was a friendly kiss. . . One that's like 'thanks for helping me with my homework Mr Ravenclaw Hottie Quidditch player sir. Please accept my friendly and totally platonic kiss on the cheek in exchange for - _Oh_. Bloody hell. They could have gotten a room or something. Don't have to be eating each other's faces right in plain view. . . "

Rose's face contorted in disgust and Lily started cracking up at her. Rose averted her gaze from the snogging couple.

"Alright. Maybe something is going on," she acknowledged. Lily couldn't stop laughing and that eventually drew Pippa over.

She put her hands on her hips.

"How's it going ladies?" she said, cheeks flushed, scowl evident.

Rose had to answer for them through giggles as Lily was totally incapable of forming words at the moment – her small hands were covering her face and she was struggling to breath. "It's going snogg - I mean, swell . . . just admiring the fine Ravencl - I mean, view from the window. Were you around the corner snogg - I mean, were you in the vicinity? We didn't notice. . . "

"Very funny," Pippa said. "We're not dating or anything. And we won't. I'm just using him for a shag."

Lily started coughing, choking on her spit as Rose's cheeks turned red. "Oh. Alright. That's cool. Fine. Y'know. We all have those shag-buddies. . . _Heh_. . . "

"You two are priceless," Pippa said, finally dropping the disapproving exterior. She was clearly amused at the two of their actions and facial expressions. "So what're you talking about?"

She joined the duo, telling the backstory between her and the Quidditch Captain. Pippa told the two that they didn't want anything serious and her heart was staying out of it.

"It's a good stress reliever, for me at least. It's helping me focus more on the now instead of dwelling on everything. I have to channel all that energy somewhere since I'm trying to not get more detentions and I don't have to piss off a mother anymore."

"I don't want you to get hurt again though."

Pippa smiled. "I'll be fine. This is good. I'm happy right now."

* * *

Rose was in the library studying with Al and Josef when suddenly she received a swift kick in the leg. Her eyes started watering and she looked in disbelief at Al, who was suddenly frozen and staring somewhere behind her head.

"Was that necessary!" she exclaimed. "You could have just. . . _oh._" She looked behind her and Nolan was approaching them.

He was approaching them.

And getting closer.

She could do nothing but stare and wait. There was a flight instinct that was yelling at her to scarper, but she held still. She checked under the table for her toads and they were there, safe. Out of sight.

He stopped in front of them and stood there, fidgeting. His eyes were downcast.

Rose couldn't say anything. Al and Josef were unresponsive. The table was all his.

"I just - "

He was looking everywhere except at them.

"– I just came to say that I'm sorry. For everything." It came in a rush. "I was ignorant, stupid, and bull headed and it hurt you all."

He was met with silence.

"I've been talking with a lot of people and they've helped me realise that I have some issues that needed to get sorted. Anger stuff."

More silence. He looked even more nervous now.

"I guess that's all I have to say. . . I wish I could have done everything differently and tried not to have senseless hatred. I'm sorry again. For hurting you all." Rose looked at Al and Josef. This apology was directed more at them than her.

"I would appreciate it if you told the Headmistress that I apologised in person. I was supposed to write a letter doing it. But it didn't feel right. But I guess if you don't want to. . . "

Albus stood up abruptly and held out a hand.

"Thanks Nolan. We'll tell her." He wasn't saying he forgave him, wasn't saying he wanted to form a friendship with him; he just acknowledged the deed that was done.

Nolan looked dazed as he slowly reached out and shook his hand. Josef stood up after Al and similarly shook hands.

"Thanks," he said softly.

It was closure and she knew she should follow example. There was a small part of her that just wanted to turn his apology back in his face for everything he had done, but Al and Josef were able to say thanks and she couldn't wreck the peace. It was the hardest thing to stand up and even harder to put her hand out. He gripped her hand and withdrew it. Then it was over and Nolan left.

The three were still standing. Al was flapping one hand in front of his face as his other gripped Josef's, squeezing tight.

"I hope that chapter never opens up again. I am glad he said sorry in person though. It's more meaningful," he said with a deep breath. "Shall we start studying again?

* * *

Even though Rose and Pippa had lifelong bans from Hogsmeade for the remainder of their time at Hogwarts, they snuck out one chilly spring evening for Aziza's 17th birthday. They borrowed the invisibility cloak and Marauders map from Lily who gave it over without hesitation; she was always promoting mischievousness and said she'd make some ruckus in the common room to clear out the room for them that evening.

At about four in the afternoon, Lily set off some Ruckus Clackers in the Gryffindor Common Room. They were extremely loud horns and whistles that went off for hours; a Weasley Wizarding Product that wasn't very popular, except for circumstances like this.

Predictably, everyone vacated the common room to escape the horrible noise. The few who tried a silencing charm on the noisemakers were subject to their skin turning bright pink for a few hours by a defence mechanism on the clackers. Since it was almost supper, everyone headed down to the Great Hall early. Nobody was in the Seventh Year dorm when Rose, Pippa, and Aziza got up there so the three girls put a silencing charm in the dorm and got ready.

It was the first time Rose had really gotten deliberately fancy for anything. Sure, there had been a few events she went to with her parents, but she didn't try to look exceptionally nice. Because it was mostly Ministry functions, dress robes were a requirement and those always seemed to be the drabbest things. She never felt the need to tame her hair or use any cosmetics.

This on the other hand, was a different occasion. Aziza was turning 17! And since none of them ever dressed up for dinner before it turned out to be rather fun getting ready and trying things on.

The three girls decided to wear muggle dresses to escape the everyday robes that they had to wear for their uniform. Rose had a few dresses she'd never worn that had been accumulating from her random thrift shopping. Aziza was closer in height to Rose so she had some choice in what to wear, but Pippa was way smaller than the two of them and had trouble fitting into the dresses; they were all too long and big. Eventually after Pippa tried on every single one with nothing fitting properly, they decided to shrink one of the dresses for her.

"I think I'm going to wear this one," Aziza said as she stood in front of the mirror. It was a cute red number that hugged her body and ended just above her knees. Rose and Pippa gave their approval when she put it on.

Rose decided on a black dress that flowed out loosely to mid-thigh. It was the fanciest dress she owned and even had an open back. Pippa's choice was a pastel multi-coloured maxi dress because it would be easiest to shrink so she wouldn't be tripping over it the whole time. She said it wasn't really her style, but she would wear it anyway.

"If we get caught before we get to Hogsmeade, I'm probably going to hex the prefect and stuff them in a broom closet," Aziza said rather wickedly. Pippa and Rose looked at each other in surprise. Aziza never liked belittling her fellow prefects or undermining their authority. "I just think we need a night out to relax from homework and get away from certain people. And you know what, I'm seventeen now and I haven't been to Hogsmeade with you two yet," she said by way of explanation.

"I'm not complaining," Pippa said. Her mother had never signed her permission form and so she always made sure to have detentions to avoid telling her friends the real reason she couldn't go to the village. "Is this because a certain someone is paying a bit too much attention to you?"

Aziza jerked her head to the side. Recently the Head Boy had been paying a little more attention to her.

"I don't think I like him like that," she said. "But I will give him a chance and go out on _one_ date with him because he's so damn insistent. And shut. Up. You. Two. Stop. Laughing."

Pippa fell backwards on the bed, unable to control herself very well. "You two can have dates where you organize the House Tables by sock colour."

"Azzy, he's a babe," Rose said. "We're not going to tease you too much. But just a little."

"You always get defensive when we tease you about Scorpius," muttered Aziza as Rose glared at her for saying the blasphemous name.

"It's my birthday. I feel like I shouldn't be teased today," she then said poutily. Rose and Pippa sniggered a bit, but refrained from commenting further. Pippa finished up the braid that encircled Aziza's head and fluffed up the rest of Aziza's short curly hair around it.

"One down, two to go," Pippa sang. Rose was next and she sat down. Pippa braided a few different pieces in the front and connected them in the back, leaving the rest to hang down her back.

"You're amazing," Rose said. There wasn't much they could do with Pippa's hair. Her hair was growing back the slowest out of them all. And it was languidly coming along – just not enough that the two girls could do anything with. They pinned back her bangs and the rest hung straight down by her cheeks.

The last step was putting on a smidge of makeup. Pippa was the only one with a little knowledge on that subject and they didn't end up putting very much on because they didn't own a lot.

"Oh _bloody hell,_" Rose said as they finished. "Shoes."

"What do you mean?"

Rose started laughing. "We don't have shoes to wear! Only our school shoes."

It turned out that Rose was correct. They had nothing to wear but their ankle high black school boots.

"Well. . . We could look through your roommate's things," suggested Pippa as she shrugged her shoulders, trying to think of something.

"We don't really talk and it wouldn't be right. I don't want to give them more reason to hate me."

"Oh who cares," Aziza said. "It's just us going out and we'll all wear these tacky boots together. We'll make them work."

It only looked mildly hilarious when they put them on. Their hair was done nicely, makeup on, dresses fitted, and then the black boots. Rose stared at her reflection in the mirror and almost didn't recognize herself. She looked grown up. She looked really fancy for basically the first time in her life and she almost wished Scorpius could see her like this, see she could wear clothes that weren't always old and holey. She _could_ fit in if she tried.

But alas, it was a girl's night. "Let's head out!"

The common room was completely empty still as the clanging went on full force. The three covered their ears and ran for the entrance. The invisibility cloak was only needed for their return, for they would probably be out after hours. They did however pull out the Marauders map to check and see if the path was clear to the secret passage.

"I think I wore the wrong dress to tromp around in underground tunnels," Aziza said as they climbed down into the tunnel. She had to pull her tight dress up to get her legs over the ledge. Rose had to catch her on the ladder as her leg got caught on the edge. She only received a lovely blow to her jaw from Aziza's boot.

"I'm so sorry Rose!" she exclaimed as she held onto the top rung, now waiting for Rose to descend all the way. "I don't feel very classy right now!" They lit their wands and followed the tunnel.

In no time, they emerged into Hogsmeade. They wandered around for a few minutes, showing Pippa the popular spots before they made their way to a small Italian restaurant that no one had been to yet. They walked into a candle-lit atmosphere with fancy settings and small tables everywhere. For a Friday evening the place was full, but nobody paid them much attention. Luckily Rose had made reservations a few days earlier. They were seated near the window and given menus.

"Shall we order wine ladies?" asked Aziza. "If that's okay Pippa?"

She speculated and then nodded. "Yes. . . I'm just having one though."

To complement the white wine, they ordered a vegetarian pizza – and Pippa didn't take one jab at it.

When the wine came, they did a toast.

"To the first one to turn 17," Rose said.

"To the beautiful, strong woman sitting before us," Pippa said.

"To great friends and great food," Aziza said.

They clicked glasses together.

"Thanks for sneaking out to come to dinner with me," Aziza said. "I know there was the chance that we might get in trouble but I just want you to know I appreciate it."

Pippa raised an eyebrow. "Who cares if we get in trouble? It's your special night! Oh, hello Professor Mowli."

"You're joking," Aziza said as her wine glass was halfway to her lips. She turned to look behind her and slopped wine on her lap when she realised the professor was actually right there.

She quickly stood up and pulled the wet napkin from her nap, hands shaking like mad.

"Oh Professor, I'm so sorry -"

He raised his hand to stop her. "I just came to wish someone a Happy Birthday. And I trust you ladies won't be out too late."

Pippa grinned. "Of course not. You know us."

The professor gave her a severe look. He knew all her antics. "Alright. Well I didn't see any of you out of Hogwarts. Be safe and enjoy your evening."

Aziza stood standing until he left the restaurant. She sat down with a thump and put her head in her hands. "I can't believe we snuck out. What a stupid idea."

Rose rubbed her back. "Hey. He just told you to enjoy your evening. Lucky it was him and not Alicant."

"He's got us covered," Pippa said. "He's a good fella. Wish there was more like him"

The pizza came and the three were occupied for the next hour, sipping on wine, eating pizza, and talking. Aziza relaxed again and had a few more glasses of wine. Rose had one more and Pippa had none.

Rose and Pippa split the bill for Aziza and took her arms as they made their way back to the castle. She was tipsy and kept stumbling over her feet.

"This is fun," Pippa said. "When you're with real friends enjoying a few glasses of wine. It's a lot different than what I was doing last year."

"I'm sorry we didn't try to stop you more and. . . well, anything we could."

"No, you couldn't have done anything. I was a stubborn mule and probably would have done something fanatical if you tried to control me."

"Ha ha. . . Mule. Stubborn," Aziza giggled.

"Alright drunk 17 year old. Let's get you to bed." They both secured Aziza a bit more. She was dragging her school boots on the ground and they were clunking loudly.

"This is going to be fun getting her back through the tunnel in that dress."

"Don't worry," Pippa assured her. "We'll be fine. Especially since you have that map. What I would have given to have that last year. . . We're probably not taking her to Hufflepuff though. Gryffindor would be closest."

"Ha ha. . . Puffers._ Hufflepuffers_."

"That's totally fine. We can all camp out in my dorm."

"I do love annoying your pretentious roommates."

"Ha ha. . . _Prenshous_."

They reached the secret passageway entrance. Rose climbed down first and had to catch Aziza as she missed the rungs on the ladder.

"Sorry Roe. The ladder is heavy. And my boots missed." Rose stood Aziza up and straightened her dress that was bunching up.

"It's okay Azzy. We're almost back."

Pippa tied her long dress in a knot around her waist before climbing down the ladder. They took her arms again for the trek through the tunnel before reaching the ladder at the opposite end. It was much harder to get Aziza up to the Hogwarts floor than it was getting her down from Hogsmeade. Rose took the brunt of her weight and was behind her, pushing her up. Aziza eventually rolled over the ledge and thumped on the floor.

"That hurt," she stated bluntly as she lay on the floor. "My arms and legs are like octopuses." Then she started giggling again. "Thanks for being here Pose and Rippa."

Rose pulled Aziza up as Pippa pulled her dress down again and flung the invisibility cloak over them all.

"Apparation practice tomorrow is going to be fun," murmured Rose. So far, only Al, Josef, and Pippa had successfully apparated. Rose was willing to bet that Aziza would not be the next added to that list.

The castle was quite busy that evening and they had to wait hidden in the hallway for it to clear up, with a hand over Aziza's mouth, and keeping an eye on the map.

"Alright. Finally here," Pippa said to Aziza outside the Fat Lady as Rose gave the password. Lily was sitting alone on the couch waiting to hear all about the trip.

"You guys look amazing!" she gushed. "Rose, I've never seen you wear a dress in public!" She helped them put Aziza in Rose's bed and then they all came back down to sit before the fire and talk about the evening.

* * *

Big brown envelopes appeared by owl to Rose, Aziza and Pippa in April. In fact, big brown letters came to almost all of the Seventh Years.

For Rose, it was conditional acceptance letters to the two drama schools she applied for: The Austrian Wizarding Performance Arts School in Vienna and the Anglish Old Vic Theatre in Bristol.

Aziza was accepted to the Edward's School of Business in Ireland.

After they had finished being excited over their letters, they realised Pippa was reading her own. She wasn't saying anything and so they peered over her shoulder to see what her letter said.

"But - _No_! I thought you were joking!"

"Nope." Pippa put the letter back in the envelope and turned to face her friends. The letter was an acceptance to join the summer training program to be an Azkaban guard.

"_Why_!"

"Well because I think with what I want to do in life, this is a good way to start. I've been getting better but I'm still messed up inside. What better place to start working than in the place where people are more messed up than me. And I need some bad-assery experience first. If I ever meet a person like me, I need to not want to wring that turkey's neck."

"Pippa. . . It's a horrible place there. There are so many other places you can go for learning all that."

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm not staying there forever. And there's no dementors anymore. We'll see how training goes and maybe I'll go to school, or work elsewhere, or stay there. This is just the start."

"But. . . _Why_?"

"It might have a small reason to do with that they'll pay for any extra education I want and I get a free place to live. I have next to no money when I leave. And I know you keep offering, but I'm not accepting money from you. This'll work. Trust me."

"Pippa, that would mean you're signing a contract. You're stuck there for at least five years if you're going to cash in on the free education. Maybe more."

"I don't know why you folks are worried about me! It's them who you should be thinking of. Have you not been around me these past seven years?"

Rose shook her head, exasperated. "I hope they give you a hard time."

Pippa stuck out her tongue.

* * *

Rose was seated on a bench in the courtyard with a book on her lap, open. She wasn't much attuned to it however. There were some butterflies that had her attention as they floated and flew and frolicked around the blades of brown grass. Then her attention was turned to the tall, lean blonde that was making his way towards her. She quickly looked at the book to make it seem as if she was reading and occupied so he wouldn't come sit. Because if he did. . . there were_ signs _recently_. . . _Her heart rate picked up and her hands started shaking. She was so nervous. Yet she held her ground and didn't bolt.

He sat down nonetheless, not beside her on the bench but leaving sufficient room for a few people to sit in between. He didn't say anything. Just leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, looking out.

Rose was watching him from the corner of her eye. What was he doing? Was he not going to say anything? She flipped a page to keep up her pretense.

A few minutes passed and she flipped another. And another.

Then she caught it –

Scorpius was shifting almost imperceptibly closer to her.

His face was trained outwards and it was slowly turning red. He pulled out his magic compass from his pocket and looked at it for a long time before putting it back and moving a tiny bit closer.

At least fifteen minutes later, he was finally within a few centimetres of her. It was enough time to calm her shaking hands, but not enough to stop her heart from pattering like mad. She could do this. When he cleared his throat loudly to get her attention she couldn't help but laugh.

"That was smooth Scorp."

"What! But! I didn't think you noticed me," he said. His face turned redder. "I was giving myself more time to think about what to say."

It had _only_ happened once. . . twice. . . Okay, maybe _fifteen_ times where Rose was so attuned to her reading or writing she didn't notice him as he approached her at all. Everyone seemed to think she did it all the time now, which she totally didn't.

"Why didn't you just sit down next to me and save yourself all the trouble?"

"Well I'll do that next time." Rose felt a little trill run through her. "I don't do this very often you know."

"I can tell," she teased and Scorpius elbowed her in the side.

"Want to go on a date with me? This Saturday?" he asked.

Rose shrugged, heart racing but trying to appear nonchalant about it all. "This Saturday is Hogsmeade. I can't really go, remember. Banned." Aziza's birthday was the only exception.

"Oh I know. We can have the date here. I'll go to the village in the morning and pick up some food and drinks. . . Then maybe we could have a picnic? Or if that sounds lame –"

Rose put her fingers to her lips and he stopped talking. "Well I was going to hang out with my fellow banned friend -" Scorpius's face dropped "- but I really like the sound of this picnic."

Scorpius grinned and his dimple appeared. Rose resisted the urge to reach out and touch his cheek. "Awesome. Great. Can't wait."

He rocked back and forth a few times and then looked at her, hazel eyes sparkling. "So, I've wanted to do this for a few years now. . ."

Rose was just about to reply, when she realised he actually meant something quite different as he started leaning towards her. Her eyes widened and she was so shocked by his boldness she couldn't quite process what was happening as he got closer and closer. Then he was right before her, only centimetres away.

His hands came up first, softly brushing her freckled cheeks and cupping them. When her eyes closed he kissed her gently on the lips. Instinctively her lips opened and he deepened the kiss, moving closer to her. Her hand lightly ran from his fingers on her face to his forearm, tugging him forwards.

Her eyes were still closed when he broke it off. She didn't want it to end.

Still grinning, he got up, brushed off his pants and started walking away, his hands in his pockets and a strut in his step. He turned around before he completely left the room. She hadn't moved yet, barely breathed.

"Noon. Meet in the Great Hall, okay?"

Rose could only nod; she felt very heated.

Scorpius left, but wasn't out of view so Rose saw him click his heels together before skipping off.

"What a goof," she said as her book tumbled off her lap to the ground, forgotten. She was afraid she would fall over from the happiness that was radiating off of her.

* * *

Saturday turned out to be the second time in her Hogwarts career that she wore a dress. And she did it willingly. She returned the long maxi dress that Pippa had worn to its original size and put it on. Getting ready, she just couldn't stop twirling around the room, humming or dancing. She felt supremely happy and it showed.

"Took him long enough to ask," said Aziza. "You two have been flirting nonstop all year."

"All year? They've been bloody well flirting nonstop since first year!"

Pippa braided a few strands away from her face and left the rest hanging down her back. She opted for no make-up because make-up wasn't her. Dressing up with all her friends was a lot different than a date with Scorpius; Scorpius was a _boy_.

And it wasn't anything like sneaking out to go to supper with friends. Students who were at the school still were going to see her. Pippa and Aziza stayed in the dorm with Lily while Rose left for her date.

As it was, nobody could stop staring at her in the common room. Her face got redder and redder as she traversed through. Most students were just waking up and seated around in their pyjamas. Paul and Alfie whistled at her as she passed them on the couches and Stella gave a thumbs up. Rose glared at them and quickened her pace. Her fellow Seventh Years all stared at her in disbelief with each swish of her dress. Rose wished she brought a coat or something to cover up in.

As soon as she reached the stairway, it was freedom. She calmed down a little and took a secret passage down to avoid most of the other students.

Scorpius was seated on the steps with a bag at his feet. He was out of his school uniform and dressed up in some very nice muggle clothes that looked suspiciously similar to what Albus wore lots last summer.

Rose brushed the dust off her shoulders and approached him, her hands nervously holding the loose material of her dress and her footsteps muffled by the carpet on the floor.

"Hey. . . you all ready to head out?" Oh there went her face again, red red red.

Scorpius jumped up and stared at her, his eyes wide. His dimple appeared. "I. . . Yes. . . You. . . Merlin Rose, you look beautiful."

Of course her face could go redder. "Thanks," she said, trying to keep her composure. "You look pretty sharp too."

"Yeah. . . I realised yesterday I didn't really have any appropriate clothes with me. Luckily I have stylish friends."

Rose grinned. He certainly did. Even his hair was gelled out of his face upwards, showing his refined cheekbones. She was willing to bet that Albus and Josef were with him before their date just as her friends were with her.

They picked a place to eat that was in the sun, but out of view of the castle. The grass was rather wet and brown still, but Scorpius had pulled the large blanket off his bed and brought it with him exactly for this purpose. The weather was warming up, but not enough to melt all the ice off the lake.

Scorpius had filled his bag with egg spinach sandwiches, fruit salad, and raspberry chocolate cupcakes. She was pleased he knew her favourites.

Not too long after they dug in, Rigel came trotting out of the Forbidden Forest. He started winding around Rose's arms and purring.

"Your cat is such a rascal. He has caused me so much stress!"

Scorpius nodded. "I agree completely. But he's matured, and doesn't like dragging your toads to me all the time."

"All the time - ? You mean. . . "

"Oh yeah, happened loads of times. I usually didn't tell you though. You always freaked out a lot."

Rose's eyes were wide.

"It's not like he ate them or hurt them!" said Scorpius quickly. "He's, as you said, a rascal!"

Her stomach twisted a little at the thought. "Maybe it was a good thing you didn't say anything. I had no idea."

Both their eyes turned to Rigel and they watched him frolic around.

"What are your plans for next year?" he asked her. "Sticking around?"

Rose hesitated. Was it presumptuous of her to want to stay around? Her and Scorpius weren't dating. . . _yet_. She wasn't going to keep lying to herself and insist nothing would ever happen.

She almost wanted to stick around in England. She felt stupid for thinking it as soon as it was thought, because maybe she was reading too much into whatever she and Scorpius were – maybe they'd never end up together and she'd waste her opportunity for Austria. However, she was raised differently; school and education were of the highest importance. No matter the small misgivings she had, her mind was set on Austria.

"I did get accepted for drama school in Bristol. But I think I'm going to go to Vienna."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Vienna in Austria?"

"Yes."

He looked impressed. "No way! I have relatives that live there. You'll love it in Vienna; the city is amazing."

"I'm excited and nervous. But that's good! I've heard many good things about the city. What are your plans?"

He told her he was hanging around England and going to be training to work in a town as a Magical Law Enforcer. The schooling was three years and then he could go work wherever he wanted.

After he said that, they both fell into silence and finished eating. They would be so far apart. . . _if_ they ever tried to make anything of this.

She was going to do it, but Scorpius moved first. He came closer and sat in front of her. One hand cupped her cheek and the other was on her shoulder, playing with the thin strap of her dress. Her traitorous heart started racing.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful today, always do?"

Rose smiled. "You did."

He caressed her cheek and then ran his thumb over the smooth skin of her neck. Her eyes closed and her head fell back slightly. It felt good; it felt right.

"Rose, I don't know what the future will bring, but I want to try to make things work with you. Even if we're hundreds of kilometres apart. It's going to be hard, but I've never felt so right about anything in my life. And I'm finally at a place where I can do something about it."

She hummed and could feel his fingertips. Her stomach was doing ridiculous flipping like butterflies, wasps, and grasshoppers were ricocheting around it.

She opened her eyes and reached out to him, putting her arms around his neck and playing with a few wisps of his hair.

"I've never felt so right either."

They didn't do much talking for the rest of the afternoon, but packed up their picnic when it started to rain and slowly headed inside, holding hands.

The three girls and Stella were seated on Rose's bed when Rose eventually came in. They all guiltily looked at her: they were wearing costumes and it looked like they'd been heavily digging through her Dress-Up Trunk for clothes were strewn everywhere. There was food and blankets all over the place as well and it looked like they had built a huge blanket fort.

"You guys, I have to sleep here tonight!" They started laughing like mad when they saw her and started frantically brushing crumbs off the bed.

"So!" exclaimed Aziza, she was wearing a ridiculous hat and very poofy pants.

Rose shrugged. "What?"

"You're smiling, you're soaking wet, you were out there for hours. . . ! Start talking woman!"

Rose squeegeed her hair out over a towel and changed into some more practical clothes to join them on the bed.

"I don't know. We talked and ate and all that stuff."

Pippa's eyes were bulging. "Rose if I get one grey hair from you right now. . . "

Rose shrugged again. "Well. It was a date. We did date-like things. Talked about what we're doing after Hogwarts. About school. Everything."

Lily sighed in frustration. "Rose. Did you snog him?"

Rose glared at her. "Yes."

There was some screaming. Aziza clapped her hands together happily.

"Are you guys dating now?" asked Stella excitedly.

". . . No."

Their faces dropped. "What?"

"Well, it was only a first date. Who says yes on a first date?"

"When you've known him since you were eleven and liked him for equally as long. So I think, yeah, that's okay," Pippa said sarcastically.

"And we're graduating in three months time. I don't want to start up something that's potentially going to fail when we leave. Or when I go to Austria and he stays here."

"Rose!"

"We're still going to. . . 'see' each other. We're going hiking together in the Forest next week. But I don't want to ruin things between us by taking this all too fast and not adjusting properly."

"Since when are you so sensible? Take a risk with this! Follow your heart!" Aziza said.

"I'm trying to be mature! I thought you'd understand. And I'm pretty positive that we're going to end up together. He thinks the same about all this."

"He only said that because you did. He's in love with you!"

"We're too young for _love_."

"Rose. I know you're a hopeless romantic at heart. Look what you read!"

"Azzy! I hate romances," exclaimed Rose.

"But it adds depth to stories and I know you like your happy endings. Just don't string him along. Either you're sure, or not. Don't be afraid to make that distinction and act on it."

They spent the rest of the day hanging around inside, dressing up, and playacting. When Rose's dormmates returned, they were chased away by a band of rogue lady pirates wielding small swords.

No one said they had to grow up quite yet.

* * *

"Well, this is it girls. Our last jump, ever, in the Hogwarts career," Pippa said solemnly.

"Last jump into freezing cold water. . . can't say I'll miss it too much," said Aziza as she shivered in her bathing suit. They had grown so much since they were small second years jumping in. They weren't the same people standing there.

"I think I'll miss it," said Rose. "It's symbolic to us."

"Almost like a cleansing ceremony every year. Winter to spring. The only students brave enough to do the jump."

"Well, except your cousin and friends," Pippa said.

"Doofuses, they were!" muttered Rose.

"No less crazy than us," Pippa said. "I keep checking behind my back just because I half think they're going to come push us in! . . . What's he doing now? James, I mean. Something with Quidditch?"

"Actually, no. He's had like five or six different jobs in the past few years, but I think he's found his calling as an Auror, and I think that's where he feels he belongs. Or something along those lines. It might have changed again for all I know."

"Wow." Pippa seemed rather impressed and didn't say anything else.

They stood facing out towards the water. Usually they jumped around noon to get the maximum sunlight, but today, the sun was just setting in front of them.

"I just want to tell you two that I'm glad we're friends and that you two stuck by me throughout the years, even though I didn't always appreciate it. Hogwarts wasn't what any of us expected and definitely didn't turn out like all the stories we hear, but regardless of everything, I'm glad we made it through to the end," Pippa said in an oddly nostalgic moment. "The future is scary. Not going to lie. Even if we move away from each other, get crazy or weird jobs, find our significant others, have kids. . . we'll always be there for each other. Best friends until the end."

Aziza wrapped her arms around Pippa and Rose followed suite.

"We're in this together, Pippa. Always." They let go.

"That was rather sincere," joked Aziza. "I'm glad you're both are coming with me to Kenya for one month before we start – AHHH!"

Both Aziza and Rose screamed out as they were violently pushed into the water. Rose's arms were flailing and she hit the cold water with a large splash as a burst of bubbles cascaded around her. She scrambled to the surface and tried to get air into her frozen lungs but couldn't take deep enough breaths in the cold to satisfy her body. Pippa was standing on the grass above them with a triumphant grin on her face.

"Haha! Take that bitches! Seventh year is ending, _woo woo_!" She plugged her nose with one hand and cannonballed in, splashing the two girls.

"Tr – tr. . . trust P. . P. . P. . Pippa t- to t-take a h - h - h - heart-warming m.. moment and wr. . wr. . wreck it," stuttered out Rose.

As soon as Pippa surfaced, she was dunked down again by the combined efforts of Rose and Aziza. The three stayed out there for longer than they had any other time – enjoying and treasuring the brief slice of their youth before it ended completely.

* * *

The Quidditch finals that year were between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. For the second time since Aziza made the team, Hufflepuffs made it to the final, albeit narrowly.

When the game day came around, everyone took a break from studying for exams to go watch. In the Gryffindor stands was such a motley crew of Houses who were all cheering for Hufflepuff because most of them were bitter that Ravenclaw beat them in the semi-finals (Lily especially). Al and Josef were the only ones to not pick sides seated in the Gryffindor seating, for Ravenclaw was Al's house. Rose, Scorpius, and Pippa were whole heartedly in Hufflepuff colours.

The game was the longest Rose had ever gone to. For starting in the afternoon, it was well after supper that it finished with Ravenclaw finally catching the elusive snitch. It was an incredibly played game with Ravenclaw winning by only 50 points.

After the game, NEWT studying was on full force again. Time was ticking down to write the exams and everyone was cramming.

It was a bittersweet time for Rose. Now that they were in their final year, final month, she wasn't ready to leave. She was scared to go off into the world and be an adult. She felt too young. Too inexperienced. There was nothing she could do to stop each hour as it went by, each day. She spent most of it with her friends, her family, and Scorpius (they still weren't dating).

The tests were hard, but nothing they hadn't prepared for. The only noticeable mistake Rose did was to do a left swish instead of a right for the Transfiguration practical and turned the desk into a baby elephant instead of an oak wardrobe. She quickly made the appropriate correction.

Everything was going well and graduation was creeping up on them. Rose had one last exam and practical, Potions, when her world came crashing down. A small disaster happened that was completely unrelated to school.

Matilda wouldn't wake up.

She thought nothing of it as she got ready for the day. But as Guacamole hopped behind her when she was leaving, Matilda was still on her bed.

Realisation dawned.

"Hugo. Hugo!" Rose sobbed as she ran down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. She had eyes only for her brother. "Hugo. Matilda is dead." She thrust out her hands to her brother where her toad lay. This was her first pet, the one she received when she was nine, the pet she had almost half her life.

The toad whisperer lifted Matilda from her hands and checked her heartbeat. He looked sadly at Rose as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped Matilda in it, tying a knot at the ends.

"She was a noble toad," he told her, "but her time has come. She lived a long life."

Hugo wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

She wanted to be alone as she went outside to bury her. Rose chose a spot by the lake shore where Matilda loved to jump in the water. She left nothing on the surface to mark the spot. Nobody but her would ever know the final resting place of Matilda because nobody except her understood the imperative role her toad had in her life. Guacamole seemed more sombre than usual as well as they stood by the waters, as if he understood what was happening.

Scorpius came up behind Rose as she stood there after Matilda was buried. He reached out to grab her hand.

"Hugo found me," he said softly. "He also said you wanted to be alone. . . but implied that you would probably want someone with you."

She squeezed his hand tight, grateful for his presence. "It's stupid I know. It's just a _toad_ –"

"No, it's not stupid."

There wasn't much she could do after that. Scorpius took a few hours off his day to just sit with her and provide company, away from everyone.

She couldn't spend more time than that away from her books. This next test was quickly coming up and she needed to study. After that, there would be a small graduation ceremony and then they were all out of Hogwarts. Forever.

* * *

"Can you believe we survived Hogwarts? And now we're off to the real world now? Butternut squash," Rose said as she lounged in the compartment with her feet propped up on the seat opposite to her and Guacamole on her lap. She popped a jelly bean into her mouth.

Pippa snorted. "Butternut squash, yeahh right. Try pumpkin. I honestly won't believe it 'til we start school."

"It is pumpkin! For real Pippa how the hell do you guess these things!"

"Pure talent I must say. Pure talent."

They didn't stay by themselves for long. Soon Scorpius, Hugo, Al, Josef, and Lily filled the compartment and joined their guessing game with some trepidation. Nobody could guess the right flavours except Pippa who got it right twice more.

"Ready to officially meet my parents?" Rose whispered to Scorpius when they both leaned back in the seat and took themselves out of the game. He had his arm around her shoulders and she was snuggled in closely.

"Bloody scared. But they can't be worse than my parents, so I'm okay."

"It'll help that we're not dating."

"I wouldn't be scared of your parents if we were dating," he said quickly.

Lily rolled her eyes at Rose as she caught Scorpius's sentence.

Rose just wanted to wait - for what, she wasn't quite sure. Scorpius was right by the window and so she had a scenic view as they quietly talked amongst themselves. Her eyes eventually closed to his soothing hand running up and down her arm.

She faded in and out of consciousness to the noises around her. She had never felt so safe, comfortable, and unjudged. Someone threw some jelly beans at her and she could feel the deep rumble in Scorpius's chests when he spoke to tell them to stop.

He gently shook her awake when they reached the station and she honestly didn't want to get up. Austria would be so far away. . .

He waited for her as she fixed her hair and straightened her robes.

She grabbed his hand before they left the train and stopped him. "Okay, I'm done being an idiot," she sighed. "I'm just scared for the future and don't want putting a label on us to wreck our friendship and relationship. It won't though. I fancy you too much to let you slip through my fingers. Even though it's going to be tough to do long distance, I really want to make this work. . . so, want to officially start dating?"

Scorpius grinned at her. "Are you just testing that statement I made earlier? See if I'll run before I meet your parents?"

"'Course you won't run. I'll catch you."

"You are a smidge faster than me," Scorpius pointed out. "But I'll never run."

"I won't either."

They took deep breaths, clasped hands, and headed out to their future. She was sure her dad would handle it, no problem. . .

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_Literature referenced (indirectly):_

Anne of Green Gables (1908) - L. M. Montgomery

* * *

_A/N: Only the epilogue now.. story is almost over :( But seriously, did anybody catch the Anne of Green Gables reference? It wasn't something blatant, but just a similarity that gave away a plot point back in Act I - and something only mentioned briefly in the first book of the Anne series. If you haven't read it, you probably won't know - but anybody who has... ?_


	7. Epi: Fresnel

**EPILOGUE - _FRESNEL_**

* * *

Scorpius always knew his fiancée was barmy. Completely, utterly, and undeniably barmy. Why else would she drag him and her very pregnant belly to his parents' house. _Willingly_. She usually hated the place that contained his uptight and aristocratic parents that didn't approve of her.

"Slow down!" he said to her as they walked up the lane. She was a few steps ahead of him, her long legs and very fast strut making him pick up his pace or be dragged.

"Scorpius I am not in the mood to be chastised for 'moving too quickly for my health' or 'knocking the brains out of this baby' again." She didn't even look at him as she spoke, her eyes intent on the manor that was coming closer every second. Her long red curly hair, one of the things Scorpius loved so dearly, hadn't really changed over the years and was bouncing outrageously with every step. She clung to his hand a little too tight, the only indicator that she wasn't quite as composed as she portrayed.

"No, love. It's not that. The albino beasts are eyeing you up. If you move faster than a leisurely walk they might attack. You're waddling much too fast!"

He sadly knew that from experience. Peacocks were deadly. She turned to glare at him over her shoulder. He knew he was going to get it for telling her she waddled.

"Let the stupid varmints try. I'll wallop the lot of them. And I _do not_ waddle, I walk quickly and decisively."

Scorpius sincerely hoped the peacocks knew what was good for them. His parents wouldn't be pleased if anything turned up dead. . .

Rose banged loudly on the door, not stopping her fist until the door was opened to the irritated face of Astoria Malfoy. She was one of the most snooty ladies they both knew who unluckily happened to be his mother. Already Rose knew that the immaculate blonde was judging her appearance; the rumpled sundress, the very pregnant belly, the messy flyaway hair.

Astoria looked irritated, both at the pounding and finding Rose Weasley at the other end. She hadn't even looked at or acknowledged Scorpius yet.

"Draco," she called with scorn evident in her voice. "Scorpius's _friend_ is here."

And that's all Rose was to his parents: the italicised, overemphasized _friend_. It actually only became friend in the past few years. Before it was 'that bad influence,' 'the girl,' and 'the charity case.' Scorpius was rather impressed it had become 'friend' at all.

"Hi mum," Scorpius said pointedly. "It's fiancée." It wasn't like he was standing that far to the side for his mum to not notice him. Astoria rolled her eyes and turned around to face him as a small scowl appeared on her face. She wasn't impressed with her son as of late – only about the past seven years or so.

"Oh. _Your_ son is also here with her," Astoria yelled over her shoulder. She told Scorpius, "It's been five years. If you're not getting married it's no longer fiancée." She stood and glared at them as if trying to scare them away from her front step.

"You didn't even call her a fiancée when we first became engaged!" exclaimed Scorpius. Rose patted him on the shoulder to placate him. He seemed to take all the rude things his parents said about her to heart. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside that he cared about her like that, but it was unneeded. She had a thick skin, 'twas necessary.

Tired of waiting for the icy Astoria to make the next move Rose pushed passed her, dragging Scorpius with her into the foyer. "So kind of you, Astoria, to welcome us warmly into your house. Thank you so much for your hospitality. And oh? what was that? Yes, of course we would love to have a quick chat with you in the stuffy and over-decorated drawing room. Two teas and no sugar in either. Thank you for asking."

Scorpius grinned at his mother's shocked expression. Merlin, he had a hot fiancée. She didn't take crap from anybody. Rose detached from his hand and he watched his mother strut to the kitchen, mentally wishing she'd trip so she would thaw a little bit.

"Scorpius," Rose said sharply and he realised she was already halfway to the drawing room. He hadn't yet moved from his spot in the foyer. He ran to catch up to her. For someone seven and a half months pregnant she sure could move fast.

"Sit!" she commanded to him as she pointed to the love seat. Rose was 'in one of _those_ moods' as Scorpius called it and he wasn't about to argue with her. He wanted his parents to be blasted by her full temper. Whatever they did he was sure they deserved it. Rose paced quickly back and forth on the carpet until Astoria and Draco appeared in the doorway, whispering between themselves as Astoria carried two cups of tea. She placed them roughly on the table, letting the hot liquid slop over the edge.

"Weasley, to what do we owe this. . . _pleasure_ of seeing you and Scorpius today," Draco said, his eyes reluctantly riveted on her stomach.

"Oh cut the crap Draco. It's not your pleasure and I don't enjoy being here." She pulled a letter from her pocket and practically threw it on the table. Scorpius raised his eyebrows, this being the first time such a letter was revealed to him. He inched forward in his chair and pulled the letter towards him to read.

"I don't see the problem."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Oh really. Really? You don't see where I'd have the problem of you thinking you can barge into our lives that you've never acknowledged before and tell us – _not even recommend or ask nicely_ – TELL US WHAT TO NAME OUR CHILD AS YOU THREATHEN TO DISOWN YOUR SON AND UNBORN GRANDCHILD? AND IF THAT'S NOT THE TOPPING OF THE PROVERBIAL ROTTEN APPLE, YOU THREATEN TO GET SCORPIUS FIRED! Where have you been the past seven years? How dare you think you have a right to demand anything!"

"We have a _right_. Your spawn will be our grandchild."

The hot tea that was in Scorpius's mouth was suddenly spit out, and not because it was scalding his tongue. _Spawn_!

Rose continued her spiel. "You have never acknowledged me as your son's friend, girlfriend, or fiancée. You have done everything you can to try to break us up. You have stormed my parents' house, locked me out of your house _multiple times_ in undesirable weather, tried to get some stupid law at the Ministry passed, and almost got me ARRESTED. Why do you even _think _I WOULD CONSIDER THOSE WRETCHED NAMES!"

Draco had his eyebrows raised. "I think all this anger is unnecessary."

"Oh? Really? Well you might as well get used to it because it's not going away Draco! I know you don't like me and don't approve of me. That is abundantly clear. But just because Scorpius and I are together does not mean you get to kick him to the curb. You have no good reason to take your anger out on him just because you hold some sort of stupid grudge against me."

Scorpius wanted to blame the pregnancy hormones, but he understood where Rose's anger was coming from when he finished the letter. He didn't even care that his parents would write him out of the will or 'try' to get him fired, the only thing was –

"SERPENS!" he said, standing up and holding the letter accusingly at his parents. There were only a few previous times he could remember standing up to them. This was a worthy addition to the small list. "AND OPHIUCHUS FOR A GIRL! I can't even pronounce that name! Absolutely not! We are not naming our kids these. Rose is right, how dare you even think you have jurisdiction here to demand anything."

To his credit, Astoria and Draco looked slightly jostled.

"Scorpius, honey. You're not at work," Rose murmured.

"It's a ten century tradition for the Malfoy's. As you are the _father_ of this. . . baby. It is up to you to carry on the tradition. And this is the tradition," Draco told his son severely.

Rose stuck her hands on her hips. "Oh, really. We appreciate the blackmail you've enclosed to try to make us carry on that tradition. That makes our choices so much easier. WRONG. You've chosen the wrong person to mess with let me tell you."

Rose stuck out her hands to stop herself and took a few deep breaths.

"In case you have forgotten," she continued, "I'm not a Malfoy!"

"We know," Astoria ground out through clenched teeth. She smoothed her perfectly ironed skirt over her legs and breathed in heavily, her nostril becoming pinched. "But that baby you have in your stomach is a Malfoy."

"Oh? You seem rather certain of that," Rose said. She picked up her tea and took a big drink, looking at his parents with a shrewd look that Scorpius only knew too well. She had a few cards hidden under her sleeve that she was about to play and he was excited to see where it would unfold to. The table was all hers.

Astoria seemed to catch the implication of her statement and paled. "What – what do you mean?"

"As you've obviously pointed out every time we've crossed paths, I'm still a _Weasley_. NOT a Malfoy. Therefore our baby will be a Weasley if you insist on trying to blackmail your way into our lives. And Scorpius will also take my last name when we get married. The Malfoy name will end with your generation."

Draco's mouth could not have opened wider. Scorpius wished he could take a picture to preserve this moment in time. There was once a time when he was scared of his dad. Ever since he started to fall for Rose, he had something worth standing up and fighting for. He loved Rose and this was his life now; he couldn't ever let someone dictate it or take away what he cared about. Rose didn't let their opinions stop her and he was learning to do that as well.

His parents gazed at Rose in shock, as if they couldn't believe such vile and mutinistic words could come out of her mouth.

"Scorpius are you going to let her just say that to us?" his mother gasped out. Her blue eyes frantically looking around at him, Draco, and then Rose.

Scorpius held up his hands, trying to keep the smile off his face, something else his parents hated for the dimpled cheek that marred his 'Malfoy perfection.' Tradition meant everything to his family. He would happily break it.

"I'll gladly take the name Weasley. It even has a nice ring, doesn't it? Scorpius _Weasley_." He grinned at his parents, enjoying their discomfort.

"_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy_! _You were raised much better than_ - " Draco huffed loudly and stopped talking. He regained his composure and narrowed her eyes. "You two aren't getting married. It's been five years since you've been. . . _engaged_." He said it like it was a dirty word.

Rose arched an eyebrow. "Yes. We've been engaged a long time. Much longer than yours and Astoria's three month engagement. But that's okay with us. We've been busy, which you obviously have no idea about because you don't want anything to do with me. However you might have just provided enough motivation. _How dare_ _you_ try coercion on us. We've a date set. You just haven't been invited. . ."

Scorpius tried to let no emotion show on his face. They actually didn't have a date set, _yet_.

Sometimes he forgot they weren't married, for they acted the same every day as if they were. Scorpius knew they were going to be together until death did them apart. When he first proposed after two years of dating, they had tentatively decided to have the wedding after they graduated school and started their jobs. They were already living together in Vienna, paying bills together, and planning for the future.

But then life took over. She was working through school when he first proposed, then working backstage and putting on productions, and now working towards getting _published _a second time. He had been working part-time touring people around the mountains when he finished his schooling to start working full time as an officer in the Magical Law Enforcement - working the two jobs at the same time. There was almost no time for a transition period or a wedding after school finished. Their jobs didn't even slow down or end when school did.

Then before they realised they should have eloped, it seemed there were rounds of weddings they needed to attend in her family and midnight Floo calls to say a new baby was born. Even though they felt that they didn't have the time or money, they had just attended Albus's and Josef's wedding last year. Even that was stressing because Rose was a bridesmaid and was struggling with all the responsibilities. Now Pippa and James had called for the spotlight next and were planning a wedding six months away.

Scorpius and Rose faded to the background and actually rather liked it. Neither of them really talked about it, but getting married was getting pushed back and back. Not that they really minded, they didn't need a ring and a marriage certificate to be together.

Their lives only briefly slowed down when Rose realised she was pregnant. They took a step back and tried to sort out their future plans. Then Scorpius was picking up a few extra shifts to pay for the added expenses of a new person in the household and Rose had to push up the production date of the play her and Aziza were putting on at the local theatre. They lost a month of preparation because of the baby's due date and so were working extreme overtime hours to be ready for the performance.

Scorpius wanted marriage for Rose. He knew she would never say anything or push, but he knew that she was tired of making excuses to their parents and they were both tired of having to go through lengthy legal processes at Gringotts and the Ministry. No matter how tired they were of attending weddings, they couldn't help but dream of their own. So even if she was widely bluffing to his parents that they set a date, it might actually be enough to get them planning something.

"What do you want Weasley," Draco said tiredly.

Damn she was quick. His dad giving up already! Scorpius's own record was three days of persistent coercion before he gave in. And that was just when he wanted to bring Rose over for supper. His longest record wasn't even over. A few times a year he got into a heated argument with his parents about his relationship with Rose. They still couldn't act decently around her.

"Well first of all, you can start calling me Rose anytime soon. I'm not leaving, or going anywhere."

"It will take some time," Astoria said.

"Oh don't stress yourself. If you put in_ all_ that effort, I'll greatly appreciate it," Rose said sarcastically. "I know it's hard to do."

"That's it?" asked Draco, preparing to get off the couch.

"Of course it isn't. I've only just begun. Sit back down. Next condition, you have no say in what we name our child. And I'll save you the disappointment later, our kid is not going to be named after a constellation or a star. And that point is _not_ arguable. You lost that influence years ago."

His mum was already rubbing her temples. Scorpius picked up his tea cup and settled in to watch the show.

"Our child may or may not have the last name Malfoy. You can worry about _that_ for the next few months as I decide if that name is even worthy of our child. So far you're proving it's not."

Oh, his dad was pinching his nose! Scorpius was guessing he'd summon a house elf to bring him a whisky on the rocks. . .

"You also have the next couple months to worry about me becoming a Malfoy, or Scorpius becoming a Weasley. One of them is going to happen and you won't know until the wedding day. That is, if you're even invited to the wedding."

"Sweet Merlin woman! You're blackmailing us now! The Malfoy name is one of the oldest –"

Astoria elbowed him to shut him up. That was good. It meant she was paying attention to what was going on and knew that Rose cared nothing for the supposed prestige of his last name. The more his dad brought it up, the worse it would be.

"Don't deal what you can't handle," Rose said quietly. "You've been trying to manipulate us for too long. That stops today."

Draco snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared. Scorpius grinned behind his cup.

"Single malt scotch. . . Quickly!"

So he was skipping the whiskey. . . Scorpius was going to have to do something really special for Rose tonight.

"Lastly, one of my friends and I are putting on a play titled 'The Brewing Hour.' Performance is at seven. Tickets will be at the front desk when you walk in. It's a _muggle_ venue. We'll see you there and you can be your agreeable selves to my parents because there are no sides in this. We are a family. If you want anything at all to do with our child or wedding, you will watch yourself the next months. Understand?"

It took forever, but Astoria reluctantly nodded. Draco was gripping his drink like his life depended on it and didn't seem capable of words.

Rose finished her tea and set the cup down with a bang on the saucer.

"I think we'll show ourselves out now. You two have been really accommodating to us today. Such lovely company. Just like always."

That was his cue. Scorpius stood up and helped her out of the chair. She winced and kept her hand on her back as she straightened. Then the two headed off.

"Bye Mother. Father. See you in one month!" he said as they were just about out of the drawing room.

He then murmured to Rose. "I don't really want to see my parents very much. Let's keep visits to a minimum."

She nodded as she rubbed her back. "Agreed. That was exhausting. I think I'm going to need a nap as soon as we get back."

They reached the outdoors and started weaving through the peacocks.

"You were wonderful today," he moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, kissing her on the temple.

"Some things just don't mix. That includes my pregnancy hormones and your parents. . . Sorry I was so bitchy."

"No, they've been acting irrationally for too long. It was time someone reminded them of who they weren't."

Rose wrapped her hand around his waist, pulling him closer to her. They strolled out of the Malfoy property and started walking in the countryside, arm in arm. They wandered around, relaxed, for quite some time and just enjoying each other's company. It was rare that they had personal time together and so they treasured the moment. They reached a small creek and Rose was reminded of the jump she did the past spring, a jump into freezing cold water with two loveable bodies beside her.

"Well, shall we go home? Back to our mad lifestyles and messy house? Because I bet you that darn kitten you just bought got into the garbage again," she said. And Merlin help the little ingrate if he so much as breathed on her toad.

"Rose, home is wherever you are," Scorpius said with a cheeky grin and another kiss on the temple.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't be cheesy."

"Well you know it's true."

She squeezed his waist in affection. "Well I would prefer not to have my home in your parent's backyard."

Scorpius grimaced at that thought.

"Let's go home," he said. They did have a wedding that supposedly needed planning.

* * *

~xx~

* * *

_La fin._

* * *

_A/N: Aaannnnd, we've reached the end of this 'short' story. I honestly hope you enjoyed it. I covered a huge stretch of time in 7 chapters - not totally dismissing doing an 'after Hogwarts' sort of story with these characters to cover the gap between Act V and the Epi. Hope everyone has a Happy Holidays and is able to spend it with loved ones. :)_


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